Ready to Set Sail? Konga’s Newest Prefab Will Float Your Boat

Welcome to Prefab Profiles, an ongoing series of interviews with people transforming how we build houses. From prefab tiny houses and modular cabin kits to entire homes ready to ship, their projects represent some of the best ideas in the industry. Do you know a prefab brand that should be on our radar? Get in touch!

For Konga cofounders Paulius Valiulis​ and Goda Žemaitė​, growing up in Lithuania meant long days spent foraging mushrooms and picking cranberries in the forest. As adults, after 15 years spent manufacturing furniture, they were inspired to transform their nature-inflected childhoods into a full-time business. The couple joined forces with Danish architect Mette Fredskild to form Konga—a company dedicated to designing prefabricated, Scandinavian-inspired cabins that immerse their occupants in nature. Since launching, their portfolio has grown to include charred wood cabins, off-grid outposts, and more.

Most recently, they created the Konga Float, an off-grid, solar-powered floating home designed with the same Scandinavian aesthetic and eco-friendly ethos as their classic cabins. Here, Valiulis shares how the company accomplished its maiden voyage.

What’s your most exciting project to date?

It has to be this one. The creation of the Konga Float took us more than a year to create, with plenty of challenges along the way. We kept pushing boundaries to make it a 100-percent, fully off-grid prefabricated house that can sail for hours using only electricity gathered from rooftop solar.

The first Konga Float owner is Claartje, who runs a private sailing school in the Netherlands. Claartje and her husband own a beautiful island in a lake in the South of Friesland. While looking for a houseboat, Claartje contacted us to see if our Konga Cabins could be placed on a simple raft to act as a floating cabin of sorts. When she learned that we were already working on the design for a floating house, she was very excited given her interest in our company values, and our approach toward design and sustainability. Claartje wanted a contemporary, high-quality design with bespoke details that was also sustainable. Today, Claartje and her husband moor their Konga Float in a lake and occasionally rent it out others.

What does your base model cost and what does that pricing include?

The Konga Float has a fixed price of €177,000 before tax and delivery. The 430-square-foot unit fits four people and is fully electric, with an E-Propulsion motor, 20 kilowatt battery pack, and 12 solar roof panels.

The only thing not included in the base cost is an extra 10 kilowatt battery, ideal for longer travels. The additional battery costs  €5,000.