Commissioned by developer British Land to create a vessel that would be permanently moored on Regent's Canal at its mixed-use development Paddington Central, just south of London’s Little Venice, the scheme for The Cheese Barge by Adam Richards Architects takes its inspiration from James Stirling’s design for the former Electa bookshop in Venice's Giardini della Biennale, today the Stirling Pavilion. According to firm director Adam Richards, that building was based on a nautical theme, “So it was fun to design a boat based on a building based on a boat.”