The Seasteading Institute has been working on a new approach involving communities floating above the sea in
spar buoys, similar to
oil platforms.
[10] The project would start small, using proven technology as much as possible, and try to find viable, sustainable ways of running a seastead.
[11] Innovations that enable full-time living at sea will have to be developed. The
cruise ship industry's development suggests this may be possible.
A proposed design for a custom-built seastead is a floating dumbbell in which the living area is high above sea level, which minimizes the influence of waves. During the last couple of years, research has been documented in an online book that covers living on the oceans.
[12]
The Seasteading Institute focuses on three areas: building a community, doing research and building the first seastead in the
San Francisco Bay. In January 2009, The Seasteading Institute patented a design for a 200-person resort seastead, ClubStead, about a city block in size, produced by consultancy firm
Marine Innovation & Technology. ClubStead marks the first major development in hard engineering, from extensive analysis to simulations, of the seasteading movement.
[12][13]