Choosing the right materials for building a floating island on a lake means you have the safe platform you need – plus the freedom to get creative. EPS blocks regularly prove to be one of the easy and economical options to get your ideas afloat.
For the ‘Symbiosis Gathering’ – a huge arts and music festival held in different venues in the US every year – everything that takes place is based on inspiring creativity. The 2016 event was to take place in Emery, CA. between Berkeley and Oakland, home to other creative organisation such as Pixar Movies. Being next to the Californian coast and private lakes, the festival organisers had the opportunity to expand their creativity onto the water.
Large floating islands as well as floating beds and floating cabanas were all to be designed for festival guests to enjoy. They all required safe floating bases as a starting point – in this case 26 blocks of .9 lb density EPS (expanded polystyrene). Each block was 24” x 48” x 48” in size and un-encapsulated – the format which can be used on private lakes and ponds. From the base of the combined blocks, colorful and highly decorated floating beds and islands were built, displayed for all of the 3-day festival.
If building a floating deck, pontoon, swim platform or island on a tidal waterway, then encapsulated blocks must be used – the same EPS (expanded polystyrene) core yet with a hard plastic shell. The same regulations apply to floatation designs used in commercial marinas. The foam experts at Universal Foam Products can advise on the use of both options as well as supplying both in many sizes and shapes.
The Symbiosis Gathering was a major success – along with all the floating attractions made from EPS blocks.
