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SITTING BY THE DOCK OF THE BAY

As the light dims, you retreat inside to the luxury of your beautifully decorated apartment. Pushing a button, the curtains quietly close off the panoramic vista to cocoon you in cosy comfort. Home at last.

But this is no apartment high in a towering block of concrete; this is the O de Squisito. Berthed in Dubai Marina between the lines of marine leisure power, the 'O' is literally a floating house but one that is perfectly capable of a gentle cruise up the Creek. The brainchild of interior designer Leen Van Daele, the concept was born of a promenade along that same Creek and living on the 30th floor at Fairmont Residence.

“This one I conceived as a white one because I love art,” says Leen. “Because of the view I made it completely open and the painting is outside. The big picture is changing constantly. In the morning we have a fantastic light which is the sunrise. As the sun is coming up between the two buildings, it is first orange, then yellow and the water looks like gold.”

A squared off 20 metres long by 6.5 metres wide with two stories, the 'O' is something of a misfit among the elegant curves of her naval neighbours.

“I wanted to have straight walls like a proper apartment without the restrictions of a boat but then I put it in the water. The base of the boat is a pontoon, two double tanks like a catamaran and they have all the water and the fuel. I kept all the technical aspects outside. If I close my curtains in the evening, I want to be as though in an apartment and then it is very cosy and you don't feel like you are on the water. When you open them in the evening or the morning you have that feeling of freedom and that is what I liked.”

Leen discovered a young local architect called Ahmed Ebrahim Alkandary who designed the superstructure from her original ideas. For the construction of the vessel she recruited the expert services of Seaspray Aluminium Boats. But all the internal fittings are to her specifics and items like the mellow Kreon lighting have been imported from Europe. A fusion of the skills and workmanship found in the West and the Middle East.

The higher deck is beautiful airy space that runs the length of the houseboat, punctuated only by a small kitchenette. The ample cupboard spaces are hidden behind sliding panels that disappear into their own recesses when open. The lower deck, connected by a small circular staircase, holds the master bedroom with en suite facilities. Wake up in the morning, open the curtains by remote control and watch the ever changing vista from the comfort of your bed. At the other end of the deck, another pleasant space that accommodates two occasional beds and the steering console. Both decks have terraces/sundecks at either end and the line of sight runs from bow to stern. Dreamtime.

“I love the feeling of the air flowing through,” says Leen. “In the future I could see a time when I would run my whole business from a floating office.”

The floating communities and 'boatels' are yet to come.