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Dutch firms specializing in floating buildings have been inundated with requests from developers abroad to undertake more ambitious projects. Rotterdam, which is 90 percent below sea level and the site of Europe’s biggest port, is home to the world’s largest floating office building, as well as a floating farm where cows are milked by robots, supplying dairy products to local grocery stores. Since the 2010 launch of the Floating Pavilion, a solar-powered meeting and event space in Rotterdam’s harbor, the city has been ramping up efforts to mainstream such projects, naming floating buildings one of the pillars of its Climate Proof and Adaptation Strategy. Rotterdam, which is 90% below sea level and the site of Europe's biggest port, is home to the world's largest floating office building, as well as a floating farm where cows are milked by robots, supplying dairy products to local grocery stores.
"We now have the tech, the possibility to build on water," says Olthuis, who has designed 300 floating homes, offices, schools and health care centres. He added he and his colleagues "don't see ourselves as architects, but as city doctors, and we see water as a medicine". Ocean Builders is indeed far from being the only company to want to offer such homes. The $5 billion mega-resort The Heart of Europe, a project on the artificial The World archipelago off Dubai, will have 131 floating villas. The villas themselves resemble smaller houses he has designed in the Netherlands. With open spaces and barely-there transitions between the indoors and the outdoors, his designs are airy, light and modern.
Embracing a Wetter Future, the Dutch Turn to Floating Homes
Koen Olthuis, who in 2003 founded Waterstudio, a Dutch architectural firm focused exclusively on floating buildings, says the relatively lo-tech nature of floating homes is potentially their biggest advantage. The homes he designs are stabilised by poles dug roughly 65m into the ground and outfitted with shock-absorbent materials to reduce the feeling of movement from nearby waves. "If there are floods, it's expected that many people will move to higher ground. But the alternative is to stay close to coastal cities and explore expansion onto the water," says De Graaf. "If you consider that in the second half of the century, hundreds of millions of people will be displaced by sea level rise, we need to start now to increase the scale of floating developments."
Some attendees suggested building in areas designated as “open space”, while others are opposed. "Unlike normal houses, they are extremely flexible when it comes to flooding, able to deal with a sea level rise of up to five metres. In his version of the future, cities will make better use of their water surfaces.
Embracing a wetter future, the Dutch turn to floating homes
In Europe, the U.S, and Canada, on the other hand, such buildings could well become the norm, with Dura Vermeer and a number of other Dutch companies already exploring the possibility of entire cities built in this manner. "We are now working with companies in the Far East, Asia, America and elsewhere in Europe, although we ourselves will only be building houses in Holland." "In the event of a flood you open the doors and allow the water to enter the non-essential lower rooms, which have been specially designed to resist water damage, with waterproof plaster and specially adapted electrics and plumbing. "The idea with wet-proof houses is that all the essential rooms -- living room, kitchen, bedroom - are on the upper floors," explains van der Pol. The technology and design -- the latter provided by Dutch architectural firm Factor Architecten -- took three years to develop, although obtaining a government green light for the project took considerably longer.
Rather, the unit would bob in gentler waterways, taking advantage of views of marine flora and fauna. So moving Jellyfish 45 through the waters with two generators would be easy and energy-efficient. The Pearl houseboat also addresses pressing concerns about the marine environment. Located in the uppermost part of the eco-friendly home, the on-board plants would aid temperature regulation, control air quality, and provide everyday sustenance. Meanwhile, rainwater would trickle down the curved exterior of the four-level home where it would be collected, then purified, for drinking water.
Community
These areas have a high probability of flooding, at least 1 in 100 years. Zone 2 and 3a areas have a wide spectrum of flood risk, and Floodline believes there is the capacity to release such land which can be sustainably developed. Where there are no reasonably available Flood Zone 1 sites, local authorities take into account reasonably available Flood Zone 2 designated sites.
The buildings will pump cold seawater from the deep to power air conditioning systems. Koen Olthuis, who in 2003 founded Waterstudio, a Dutch architectural firm focused exclusively on floating buildings, said that the relatively low-tech nature of floating homes is potentially their biggest advantage. The homes he designs are stabilized by poles dug roughly 65 meters into the ground and outfitted with shock-absorbent materials to reduce the feeling of movement from nearby waves. But despite their apparent simplicity, Olthuis contends they have the potential to transform cities in ways not seen since the introduction of the elevator, which pushed skylines upward.
Most Sausalito and floating home residents want the “working waterfront” to remain healthy and viable. There is also interest in allocating some land within the Marinship for senior housing and affordable housing. The flat land and larger parcels make senior and affordable housing more viable in the Marinship than in other areas. In October, residents of the floating community of Schoonschip in Amsterdam had little doubt they could ride it out. Ocean Builders claims to have focused on the sustainability of its builders.
Experts say that relieving the Dutch housing shortage will require the construction of one million new homes over the next 10 years. Floating homes could help relieve pressure on the shortage of land available for development. As sea levels rise and supercharged storms cause waters to swell, floating neighbourhoods offer an experiment in flood defence that could allow coastal communities to better withstand climate change. Waterstudio will oversee construction this winter of a floating housing development near the low-lying capital of Male in the Maldives, where 80 percent of the country sits less than one meter above sea level. It is composed of simply designed, affordable housing for 20,000 people. Underneath the hulls will be artificial coral to help support marine life.
Unlike homes on land, establishing a SeaPod or EcoPod on water does not involve clearing the land, which is, by definition, more environmentally friendly. Moreover, these floating houses create shade in the water, which favors marine life, assures the Panamanian society. The Floating Seahorse at least has the common sense to establish itself in Dubai where everything is artificial and built from the ground up. With a price tag of 1.5 mil you sure won’t have to worry about getting stranded on Gilligan’s Island. The Seahorse is envisioned as a community of several floating homes which will be situated off the coast of Dubai in THOE . A series of artificial islands which itself is only part of a bigger 600 artificial island community.
He is also an academic member of the flood resilience group at Unesco-IHE in Delft, a water research institute. For those on a tighter budget, Mr. Olthuis is set to help reconvert on-the-water living spaces in Weehawken, N.J., just south of the Lincoln Tunnel, on the Hudson River. The first phase of the project focuses on “livable yachts,” which are scheduled to go on the market late next year for slightly less than nearby condos, according to Steve Israel, the developer. Christie’s real estate, which is acting as a broker for the units, notes that they can be transported around the globe. Depending on the level of customization and enhancements, the islands will sell for an estimated $5 million. Perhaps most important for the slums of Dhaka, the units — which can house amenities like internet terminals, toilets and showers, large-scale water filtration, medical clinics, community kitchens and workshops — can be moved easily to where they are needed most.
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