floating-architecture Archives - Page 3 of 23

Architects look to floating cities as sea levels rise

By Edwin Heathcote
Financial Times
2019.june.5

Some argue that waterborne homes — and stadiums — could be a response to climate concerns

New York, London, Shanghai, Jakarta, Manila, Houston, Miami, Rio de Janeiro — all these cities and more are threatened by potential rises in sea level from climate change. Without dramatic action, in a century or less some of the world’s most expensive real estate could be under water. So it is unsurprising that architects and engineers are looking seriously at a future of floating cities. As often with water engineering, the Dutch are at the forefront. Living in a country which owes its existence to the struggle to find equilibrium with the sea, they are the pioneers of a small but increasingly important-looking architectural future. A short tram ride from central Amsterdam is IJburg, a well-planned suburb of decent housing and wide roads built on reclaimed land. At its edges the streets dissolve into jetties and houses sit on the water. One of the first large floating suburbs, it is an enticing vision of water living, with houses on concrete rafts and ducks swimming between. These are well-designed and built homes for city workers priced out of the centre of a city affected by gentrification, tourism and Airbnb-style rentals. Some houses are minimally modernist, others quirkily eccentric. Some look like suburban cottages on water, others like streamlined nautical hybrids, ready to sail away. One neighbourhood, Steigereiland, was built by architects Marlies Rohmer, an elegant Bauhaus dream of white walls, flat roofs, steel and glass. Could this be the future? Architect Koen Olthuis (“the Floating Dutchman”) has been at the forefront of floating design. “We love the water in Holland and we need to learn to see it as a tool,” he says. “I’ve seen floating architecture go from freak architecture to a real proposition. A hundred years ago the invention of the elevator allowed us to build vertically; now we need to understand water as an extra dimension for cities.” Mr Olthuis, whose Waterstudio practice has designed and built more than 200 floating buildings and who has plans for everything from entire cities to a football stadium, calls the floating metropolis a “blue city” and sees a four-stage process in its development. “They start in the city,” he says, “on the waterfront, where there is an established real estate market. Then they go into the sea but are still connected to the land via their energy and sewerage et cetera — which is an alternative to expensive land reclamation. The third phase is going into the sea, 1km into the water, but still connected, and the fourth is the self-supporting city in the sea with all its energy generated in the ocean.” What is the point of that? “I don’t know,” he laughs, “but rich people love the idea — an unregulated haven!” “We have 2bn people threatened by floods, these problems are in the cities right now.” Is this really a realistic solution to problems of urban overcrowding and resilience? “The big guys [the ‘starchitects’] are now showing idealistic cities in the ocean.” These are fantasies, he says, “but we have to group together as architects to make realistic proposals”. Mr Olthuis also worked on the Arkup, a “liveable yacht” launched last year in Miami. A luxury house with hydraulic legs which can be lowered to the seabed, it has solar power, desalination and a motor. He is also working on structures for the world’s slums, building a mobile platform in Bangladesh which uses waste plastic bottles for buoyancy. These will house toilets, internet stations, communal kitchens and other facilities. Floating architecture’s recent history has not all been plain sailing. Nigerian architect Kunlé Adeyemi designed the Makoko floating school for a Lagos slum. It looked like the perfect project — worthy, elegant and innovative — but it was destroyed by a storm. The idea of a mobile floating architecture is among the more promising futures. Mr Olthuis has even designed a sports stadium. “A football stadium could be leased by a city,” he says. “Why spend all that money? Rent it, like a car.” Architect Alex de Rijke also raises flexibility. “Cities have master plans but plans change and one of their failures is their inability to adapt,” he says. “A floating city could be endlessly reconfigured.” His practice dRMM’s plans for a “Floatopolis” in London’s Docklands show a city of multistorey structures. It went from research project to possible commission but was not built. “The world’s cities are full of post-industrial waterfronts,” Mr de Rijke says. “We were looking at how you create a community, with schools, shops and most importantly density. “We have overpriced land in London, a restrictive planning system and the paradox of a low-density city.” The floating city idea, says Mr de Rijke, goes in a cycle of fashion, “like the tide coming in and going out”. It is a relatively expensive way to build, with prefabricated concrete rafts and high-specification components. But in big cities or densely populated countries such as the Netherlands or UK, where land is expensive, it can be an economical solution. As the technologies become more mainstream, costs will fall. Of course, city centre waterways are a finite resource — but they may be becoming much less finite soon. The tide is coming in.

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Amsterdam pioniert met duurzaam drijvende woonwijk

By Joyce Boverhuis
EenVandaag
July.01.2019

Dit jaar krijgt Amsterdam de meest duurzame drijvende woonwijk van Europa met de naam ‘Schoonschip’. Bouwen op het water is volgens deskundige Koen Olthuis een uitkomst.

Koen Olthuis is architect en eigenaar van Waterstudio.nl. Voor hem is bouwen op water bijna een religie. Hij gelooft in ‘the rise of the blue city’. Tokyo, Miami, Jakarta, Olthuis reist de wereld rond om steden te voorzien van advies over bouwen op water. Zijn motto: ‘Green is good, blue is better’.

Niet vechten tegen water

Olthuis: “Met de stijgende zeespiegel is het voor sommige steden veel veiliger om te bouwen op water. Daarnaast kan het water gebruikt worden voor duurzame verkoeling en verwarming.” Olthuis wijst ook op het gebrek aan bouwgrond in Nederland. “Er moeten jaarlijks honderdduizenden woningen bijkomen om de krapte op de woningmarkt op te vangen. In de stad is op land geen ruimte meer, dan moeten we toch gebruik maken van water?”

Olthuis verbaast zich erover dat we in Nederland zoveel energie steken in het wegpompen van water, terwijl we er ook óp kunnen wonen. “Bouwen op water heeft enorm veel voordelen. Huizen op water zijn verplaatsbaar, mee te draaien met de zon, aanpasbaar aan het seizoen. We vechten in Nederland tégen het water, maar waarom maken we er niet meer gebruik van?”

Milieubewuste verwarming

Remco de Boer is expert op het gebied van energietransitie. Hij zegt dat we ons in Nederland niet meteen zorgen hoeven te maken over overstroming door een stijgende zeespiegel. “We zijn een rijk land en kunnen ons wapenen, bijvoorbeeld door de bouw van nieuwe Deltawerken.”

Voor de veiligheid hoeven we wat De Boer betreft in Nederland niet uit te wijken naar bouwen op water. “Dat is natuurlijk anders in landen als Bangladesh.” De Boer ziet net zoals Olthuis wel dat water gebruikt kan worden voor een milieubewuste verwarming. Al hoeft het huis daarbij niet per se óp het water te staan.

Makkelijker vergunning krijgen

Aan enkele gezinnen die komen te wonen in de drijvende woonwijk ‘Schoonschip‘ in Amsterdam gaf Olthuis advies. Hij vindt het een prachtig project, maar heeft meteen ook wat geleerd over hoe bouwen op water beter kan in Nederland.

De locatie van de drijvende woonwijk ‘Schoonschip’

“Bouwen op water heeft drie voorwaarden. Je moet een plek hebben, de techniek in huis hebben – dat hebben we in Nederland zeker – en ook vergunningen kunnen krijgen. Wat dat laatste betreft is het in Nederland ontzettend lastig. Ik kan wel zeggen dat we daarin in Nederland zelfs achterlopen. Als we de trend van bouwen op water in Nederland een impuls willen geven moet dat echt makkelijker worden.”

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Deze peperdure villa is ook veilig als de zeespiegel meters stijgt

By AD
Photocredits: AFP
May.31.2019

MOOIE HUIZEN

Regelmatig speuren we over de grens naar huizen die ons verbazen of inspireren. Waarschijnlijk te duur om zelf ooit in te kunnen wonen. Toch zullen veel Nederlanders op den duur moeten overstappen naar een drijvend huis, als de zeespiegel meters blijft stijgen door de opwarming van de aarde. Wat dacht je dan van deze drijvende villa in Miami.

De voorspelde stijging van het zeeniveau bracht het Nederlandse bedrijf Waterstudio op het idee om drijvende luxevilla’s voor de superrijken te bouwen. In Miami stelden ze hun eerste model voor: een woning met een bewoonbare oppervlakte van 404 m², bestand tegen windstoten tot 250 km/u.

De villa op het water beschikt over vier slaap- en badkamers en is CO2-neutraal. Het dak ligt vol met zonnepanelen. Met een prijskaartje van 6 miljoen dollar – inclusief de inrichting – is deze waterparel enkel voor de happy few, al wil Arkup in de toekomst ook ‘goedkopere’ drijvende huizen bouwen. Tot dat moment houden wij onze voetjes op het droge.

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Dit is de villa van de superrijken als straks het zeeniveau stijgt

By Björn Cocquyt
HLN
May.29.2019

We zullen wellicht nooit het geld hebben om er zelf in te wonen, maar kijken naar en dromen van een geweldig huis doen we allemaal graag. Daarom tonen we elke woensdag een waanzinnige woning. Deze week is dat een drijvend huis in Miami.

De voorspelde stijging van het zeeniveau door de klimaatopwarming bracht Arkup op het idee om drijvende luxevilla’s voor de superrijken te bouwen. In Miami stelden ze hun eerste model voor: een woning met een bewoonbare oppervlakte van 404 m², bestand tegen windstoten tot 250 km/u.

Voor het ontwerp klopten de Amerikanen aan bij onze noorderburen van Waterstudio. De villa op het water beschikt over vier slaap- en badkamers en is CO2-neutraal. Het dak ligt vol met zonnepanelen. Met een prijskaartje van 6 miljoen dollar – inclusief de inrichting – is dit huistype enkel voor de happy few, al wil Arkup in de toekomst ook ‘goedkopere’ drijvende huizen bouwen. Tot dan houden wij onze voetjes op het droge.

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Bâtir contre vents et marées

By Formes
May.10.2018

Bâtir contre vents et marées Source : Waterstudio

Avec la menace d’une éventuelle montée des eaux, les Pays-Bas voient apparaître un nouveau concept de maisons flottantes. Et bientôt, c’est des villes entières qui émergeront des flots.

Le visiteur qui découvre les Pays-Bas ne se doute pas toujours que le sol qu’il foule est en bonne partie l’œuvre de l’homme. Le Néerlandais, lui, ne l’oublie pas. Car il sait que les Pays-Bas sont un petit pays de 41 528 km², dont environ 7 745 km² sont occupés par des fleuves, des lacs, des étangs, des fossés et des canaux. Aussi, dès le Moyen Âge les Néerlandais ont entrepris de transformer leur paysage, disputant à l’eau chaque parcelle de leur territoire. D’abord en asséchant des lacs et des marais, puis en construisant des digues et des barrages de retenue sur la mer du Nord.

Terres en dérive

Ces terres artificielles, aussi appelées polders, se sont multipliées. Si bien qu’aujourd’hui, près du tiers des terres se trouve au-dessous du niveau de la mer. Le point culminant des Pays-Bas se situe d’ailleurs à 323 mètres alors que son point le plus bas est à 6,70 mètres sous le niveau de la mer. C’est dire. Et le bras de fer engagé avec la mer est loin d’être terminé. Avec les changements climatiques qui s’annoncent, on prévoit une augmentation de 25 % des précipitations au cours des prochaines années. Une bonne partie du territoire néerlandais risque de se retrouver bientôt sous les flots. Et la pression urbaine ne cesse de s’accroître dans les zones inondables.

« Nos stations de pompage ultra-modernes fonctionnent déjà jour et nuit juste pour maintenir les polders au sec, souligne l’architecte et designer industriel Koen Olthuis, associé de Waterstudio.NL, un cabinet d’architecture qui œuvre uniquement dans la construction en zone inondable. Mais on commence à mesurer les effets du réchauffement planétaire. Maintenant, lorsqu’il pleut ou en période de crue, les pompes ne suffisent pas toujours. On doit alors entreposer l’eau pendant quelque temps ou élargir le lit des rivières. »

Aussi, pour diminuer la pression sur les villes, le gouvernement néerlandais publiait en septembre 2005 la liste de quinze zones dorénavant ouvertes à l’urbanisation, mais réservées à la construction amphibie. Puis, les autorités ont lancé un concours invitant ingénieurs, architectes et urbanistes à concevoir des projets urbains novateurs, comprenant des serres, des maisons, des usines, des parkings flottants. Une ville flottante de 12 000 bâtiments pourrait ainsi voir le jour près de Schiphol.

Une première mondiale qui confirmerait au pays son statut de chef de file en matière d’habitats aquatiques. « Ces points sont tous situés à l’embouchure de fleuves, là où l’eau, soumise aux courants et aux marées, est très dynamique, fait-il remarquer. Les solutions mises de l’avant doivent donc permettre aux bâtiments, mais aussi aux routes, de faire face à la fluctuation des eaux. »

Considérant qu’il valait mieux de chercher des solutions pour coexister avec l’eau, plutôt que de lutter contre, l’équipe de Waterstudio a récemment imaginé un projet de conversion et de réaménagement de polders existants. En d’autres termes, il s’agirait d’inonder de nouveau ces terres arrachées à la mer et aux plans d’eau douce. Par la suite, des villes flottantes, conçues pour un milieu dynamique, seraient ancrées aux infrastructures nouvellement immergées.

La maison amphibie Snel à Aalsmeer : Vue imprenable sur le fleuve. Source : Waterstudio

Un savoir-faire unique

Il faut dire que les Néerlandais n’en sont pas à leurs premières armes dans ce domaine. « Nous avons une longue expérience des maisons flottantes, rappelle-t-il. La technologie a donc beaucoup évolué depuis les premières maisons-bateaux. » Ces dernières sont d’ailleurs en voie d’être supplantées par les maisons flottantes. Suivant le principe de la bouée, ces structures peuvent s’élever avec la montée des eaux. Parfaitement adaptée aux zones maritimes, ce type de construction convient aussi aux canaux. Seuls les piliers et les amarres seront différents.

« Dans un canal d’Amsterdam, où la fluctuation du niveau de l’eau est quasi nulle sur une année, nous utilisons un système d’ancrage rigide, explique l’architecte. Sur les fleuves ou sur la mer, nous faisons plutôt appel à un système de pieux coulissants qui permet jusqu’à trois mètres de jeu toutes les douze heures. » Selon le degré de salinité de l’eau, les piliers coulissants seront fabriqués d’acier, de béton ou de bois. Toutefois, si le fond de l’eau est à plus de 20 mètres, le bâtiment sera plutôt amarré à un socle de béton solidement fixé à la digue. Il est ensuite relié aux services publics au moyen de conduits flexibles.

Ces maisons flottantes sont composées d’un caisson de béton et de polystyrène, dans des proportions variant en fonction de la flottabilité requise. D’une épaisseur minimale de 20 cm, cette coque composite assure aussi l’étanchéité de l’assemblage. Des fondations de huit mètres de profondeur et faisant 200 mètres de côté peuvent ainsi soutenir une structure atteignant jusqu’à 100 mètres de hauteur. La maison se complète d’une structure légère, souvent en bois, pouvant compter plusieurs étages.

Suivant l’emplacement et l’ampleur du projet, les maisons seront assemblées in situ ou en bateau-usine et remorquées jusqu’à leur point d’attache. « On dispose d’un réseau de transport comptant des milliers de kilomètres de cours d’eau et de canaux, aussi bien en profiter, poursuit-t-il. Si le remorquage n’est pas possible, on construit alors sur place. On peut aussi les livrer par transport routier, mais c’est plutôt rare. »

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Floating house & structure developers plan for ports & cities defense against higher sea levels & flooding

By Stas Margaronis
RBTUS
April.29.2019

Source: Waterstudio

Sea level rise is magnifying the flood damage from hurricanes and storms posing a growing threat to coastal communities around the world. In response, a growing number of flood and storm specialists as well as architects, home builders and developers are arguing that coastal cities need to be rebuilt for sea level defense.

The movement toward floating structures is growing and looking at how investing in sea level defense can also create new real estate development. The key is to inspire coastal cities and communities to build new houses, garages, farms and even cruise ship terminals (see rendering above) on the water.

Koen Olthuis, a Dutch architect of floating homes and structures who began his architectural firm Waterstudio in 2003, believes that floating structures can provide one component of the climate change adaptation strategy.

He argues that: “Waterstudio.NL is an architectural firm that has taken up the challenge of developing solutions to the problems posed by urbanization and climate change. Prognoses are that by 2050 about 70% of the world’s population will live in urbanized areas. Given the fact that about 90% of the world’s largest cities are situated on the waterfront, we are forced to rethink the way we live with water in the built environment. Given the unpredictability of future developments we need to come up with flexible strategies – planning for change. Our vision is that large-scale floating projects in urban environments provide a solution to these problems that is both flexible as well as sustainable.”

Olthuis says that political and business leaders as well as planners and urban development stakeholders need to start thinking about rebuilding their waterfronts with floating structures in mind: “A next step would be expanding (the) urban fabric beyond the waterfront: building normal urban configurations on water locations, with normal densities and usual typologies such as apartment-buildings, semi-detached housing, etc. Water-based neighborhoods that look and feel just like traditional land-based areas but just happen to have a floating foundation that allows them to cope with water fluctuations.” [1]

Olthuis, who is descended from a family of shipbuilders, notes that the offshore oil and gas industry provides a role model. Offshore drilling platforms suggest ways to build structures in the age of sea level rise: “There are many important lessons we can learn from the offshore oil and gas industry about building safe and sustainable houses in the water.”

Offshore drilling is more challenging than onshore drilling due to the lack of stability (particularly for floaters), the corrosive water environment, space constraints and the need for more complex logistics and support. Offshore drilling rigs are broadly divided into bottom-supported rigs and floaters.

Olthuis has been inspired by the jack-up rig which he uses in the design of a house. The jack-up rig allows for offshore deployment in shallow water:

“Jack-up rigs are floated out to the drilling location, and they have retractable legs that are lowered down to the seafloor. Jack-up rigs can only work in water depths less than the length of their legs, typically limiting operations to less than 150 meters/500 feet. When drilling is completed, the legs are raised out of the water, and the rig becomes a floating barge that can be towed away (‘wet tow’) or placed on a large transport ship (‘dry tow’).”2

Source: Maersk

Another potential model is the Allseas Pioneering Spirit, a mega ship, which lifts and transports offshore drilling platforms to and from their foundations in the open sea. This shows that the technology already exists to transport large structures like apartment buildings that could be built on land and transported onto pedestals in the water as the photo below suggests: 3

Source: Allseas

FLOATING & JACK-UP HOUSE DESIGN

Olthuis has recently returned from Miami, Florida where he has designed a house that can float on the water or be raised above the water by an internal jack up system.

Olthuis says the hybrid floating and jack up house would provide the stability of a house on land with the versatility of being on water so as to compensate for sea level rises and storm water surges. He is looking at markets in Florida and New York for the new housing developments.

Source: Waterstudio.nl

The Waterstudio design allows the homeowner to “live in comfort and luxury in total autonomy, and enjoy life between the sea, the sky and the city. Dock in a metropolitan marina or anchor in a tranquil bay.”

Source: Waterstudio.nl

In the manner of a semi submersible oil rig with a propulsion system, the Waterstudio floating house is also self-propelled:

Source: Waterstudio.nl

The design also contains a solar roof and batteries to make it largely energy self-sufficient:

Source: Waterstudio.nl

However, Olthuis’ floating home “is not cheap and costs 5.5 million Euros (or about $6.1 million) to build, but it offers some elements that could help establish the foundation for floating houses, apartments and retail outlets being built in the water.”

FLOATING CRUISE TERMINAL

As demand for cruise ship travel is on the increase, more ports are looking to build cruise ship terminals to attract tourism.

Waterstudio proposes to build floating passenger ship terminals that can reduce capital costs compared to building terminals on land. This creates the possibility for ports, that lack deep financial pockets, to access state-of-the-art cruise ship terminals at lower costs and with less permit approval delays. Please see the rendering above.

Olthuis says the floating cruise ship terminal concept can also provide temporary housing for an Olympic Games or World Cup soccer event. The cost of putting on special events can be reduced if floating structures are used that can be towed from venue to venue.

His idea is to build the terminal, support it with shopping and other amenities and berth several cruise ships so as to accommodate thousands of floating bedrooms. Below is the floor plan:

Source: Waterstudio NL

FLOATING GARAGES

As downtown areas become increasingly congested, Olthuis makes the case for floating parking garages.

McGregor, the maker of vessel hatch covers, built a floating garage in Sweden that was completed in 1991:

Floating parking structure, Gothenburg, Sweden Completed 1991. Client: Municipality of Gothenburg, Sweden Main particulars: Mooring and access equipment. The floating garage, the P-Ark, can hold more than 400 cars and can be relocated to respond to changing parking requirements. Certified: Lloyd’s Register (LR) Source: McGregor

McGregor argues that as land is limited in both urban areas and ports, the building of parking garages is increasingly constrained. A shallow draft, multi-story, floating parking garage offers an ideal solution to congestion problems.

The company says that “A floating car park requires minimal civil works on the quay side before it can be towed into position and put into use. Compared to building a fixed garage, there is very little disturbance to the surroundings and the unit can be re-located in the future, should the parking situation change… Our floating garages can be designed and painted to blend in with the surroundings, or the large exterior surfaces can feature graphics for advertising, thus generating additional income. All our floating car parks are tailored to suit the customer’s requirements.” [4]

FLOATING HOUSING DEVELOPMENT

For centuries, the Dutch have built up their cities and towns reclaiming land from the sea. At a time when land is scarce and expensive, they have also begun building houses and other structures on the water. In Amsterdam a new floating housing development generates new housing and new homeowners adding value to the existing community.

The Schoonschip floating community creates new value to an older neighborhood by adding 46 households and a community center on 30 floating platforms. Source: Schoonschip

The Schoonschip housing development is composed of structures floating in the water on concrete foundations that its builders say will be sustainable and alleviate the challenge from higher sea levels:

The water homes are well-insulated … and will not be connected to the natural gas network.

The heat will be generated by water pumps, which extract warmth from the canal water, and passive solar energy will be optimized.

Tap water will be heated by sun boilers in warm water pumps; all showers are equipped with installations that recycle the heat.

We are producing our own electricity with photovoltaic solar panels. Every household has a battery in which temporarily unneeded energy can be stored.

All water homes are connected to a communal smart grid. This smart grid makes it possible to trade energy efficiently amongst the households. 46 households will share only one connection to the national energy grid!

Gray water (i.e. washing machine) and black water (i.e. toilet) will be ‘flushed’ by a separate source of energy. Waternet will eventually include us in their pilot project, which delivers the toilet water to a bio-refinery, in order to ferment it and transform it into energy.

All homes will have a green roof covering at least one third of the roof’s surface.[5]

Sjoerd Dijikstra, a spokesman for the Schoonschip development, explained how the floating housing development works: “The Schoonschip … development in Amsterdam has been 10 years in the making.”

He works in the materials industry for a company called Metabolic and “so I went to all of the suppliers of materials we use for building our houses to check that we had the most sustainable materials free of harmful chemicals and carcinogens. “

Metabolic is a partner in developing the Schoonschip houses. It was founded by Eva Gladek, born and raised in New York City, who began her career as a molecular biologist.[6]

Dyjikstra notes that Schoonschip is building the floating houses “at an industrial area outside of Amsterdam and then the houses are taken from the land by crane and lowered into the water where they are towed by boat to the development site inside a small Amsterdam canal…. Several of the 30 floating units have been split into apartments so there are actually a total of 46 units altogether. Soon my wife and I will be living in our own floating home. People need to like the water for this type of life. You live closer to the elements of wind and water and when the wind blows you feel the waves gently rolling the house. If you like the sea, it’s a great experience.”

He notes the floating houses are three stories high: “The bedrooms are located at the water line, the living room and kitchen and study in the second storey and an outdoor terrace on top.” The average home is 1,600 square feet and “will cost about 650,000 euros ( about $726,000) but this includes legal costs and the infrastructure to support the houses including electrical, water, sewage. The net cost would be about 450,000 euros (about $503,000). As we build more units the cost of construction will go down since we are sourcing our homes from a manufacturer who can reduce their costs with more unit construction and pass on some of the savings to the customer. I think there is a good chance of this since we have had a good public reaction and we have a long waiting list of people who want to order the floating homes.”

He noted that “We paid a great deal of attention to insulation and we used hemp to insulate the houses. The appliances are all electrical and we built an array of 33 solar panels to provide 10,000 kilowatts of electricity which is supported by a battery system to provide sustainable energy at night when the sun doesn’t shine. We also worked on air filtration so that the air you breathe is clean and free of emissions and chemicals.”

As housing is very expensive in Amsterdam, “apartments are expensive and small we offer a good alternative for middle income people who want to live close to Amsterdam and still enjoy being on the water with a sustainably built house that is not overly expensive and will cost less as we build more units.”

The Schoonschip Foundation is headed by Peer de Rijk (chair), Siti Boelen (treasurer), Marjan de Blok (secretary and initiator) and Marjolein Smeele (general board member and architect). [7]

BUOYANT HOUSES

Source: Buoyant Foundation

In Louisiana, the Buoyant Foundation Project (BFP), was “founded in 2006 to support the recovery of New Orleans’ unique and endangered traditional cultures by providing a strategy for the safe and sustainable restoration of historic housing.”

The foundation says: “Retrofitting the city’s traditional elevated wooden shotgun houses with buoyant (amphibious) foundations could prevent devastating flood damage and the destruction of neighborhood character that results from permanent static elevation high above the ground.”

A buoyant foundation “is a type of amphibious foundation in which an existing structure is retrofitted to allow it to float as high as necessary during floods while remaining on the ground in normal conditions. The system consists of three basic elements: buoyancy blocks underneath the house that provide flotation, vertical guideposts that prevent the house from going anywhere except straight up and down, and a structural sub-frame that ties everything together. Utility lines have either self-sealing ‘breakaway’ connections or long, coiled ‘umbilical’ lines. Any house that can be elevated can be made amphibious.”

Since 2006, the Buoyant Foundation says its mission “has broadened to apply not only to post-Katrina New Orleans but also to numerous other flood-sensitive locations around the world. The Buoyant Foundation Project is a registered non-profit organization in the State of Louisiana. The team consists of students, professors, and alumni of the University of Waterloo (Canada) School of Architecture.”[8]

The project founder is Elizabeth English, associate professor at the University of Waterloo School of Architecture in Cambridge, Ontario. She was formerly associate professor – research at the Louisiana State University (LSU) Hurricane Center. When not in Canada she resides in Breaux Bridge, Louisiana, where she continues her research on hurricane damage mitigation strategies with particular application to post-Katrina New Orleans.[9]

FLOATING FARMS

In the Port of Rotterdam, a floating concrete barge has been constructed that contains a floating dairy farm to produce milk, yogurt and other dairy products.

Floating farm under construction at the Port of Rotterdam

A report in the American Journal of Transportation quoted Minke van Wingerden, a partner at Beladon BV – the floating farm builder, as saying that the original idea for the farm came from a visit to New York after Hurricane Sandy in 2012.

At that time, she and her husband, Peter van Wingerden, saw that food supplies were disrupted for days in the New York and New Jersey areas after the hurricane hit. Flooding and road damage prevented trucks from making deliveries. This food supply and transportation disruption has been repeated during Hurricanes Katrina, Maria and mostly recently with Hurricane Michael in Florida in 2018.

The van Wingerdens began researching ways to improve food deliveries during such emergencies. Originally, they focused on supporting more urban or rooftop gardens, but instead shifted to a popular trend in the Netherlands to offset limited and expensive land by building floating houses and offices.

So, they decided to build a floating farm.

The floating farm, Minke van Wingerden said, can adapt to changes in the climate and be hurricane-resistant.

“You go up and down with the tide, or the water, and it has no influence on your food production, so you can still make fresh food in the city,” she said.

“During our research, we saw that many cities are built on or near the sea and along rivers and deltas just as we see here in the Netherlands. This gave us the idea for the floating dairy farm so that the food supply could be brought closer to cities and consumers using floating structures.”

Privately, while they applaud the innovation, some people in Rotterdam think that the dairy products from the floating farm will cost too much and will not compete with land-based dairy farms.

Van Wingerden concedes that the cost of producing milk products will be higher from a floating farm than from a land-based farm.

However, she argues that the Beladon floating farm will be located close to Rotterdam consumers, reducing transportation costs and providing fresher products with faster delivery times.

The added advantage is that the floating farm will have a much smaller CO2 foot print than conventional farms: “We will use solar panels to power the farm and use rain water from the roof to supplement our water supply.”

To reduce the environmental impact further: “We will be using existing food waste to feed our cows. There is a brewery nearby so we will use the beer broth that is a product of brewing beer and feed it to our cows. They love it. Another source of food for the cows is potato peels from a food processor. In both cases these waste products would be burned or dumped onto a garbage disposal site. Instead, we feed the product to our cows.”

She hopes that companies like Amazon, and its Whole Foods subsidiary, will find that the Beladon floating farm fits into their fast delivery and organic food business model: a new technological creation to source dairy and other farm products requiring only an urban pier base of operations.

Van Wingerden said the floating farm is estimated to cost 2.6 million Euros (about $2.9 million). Its dimensions are 30 meters by 30 meters or 89 feet by 89 feet.

The structure is built on a concrete floating base. The second deck is composed of a kitchen to mix the feed for the cows, a processing facility for milk and yogurt products and a shop to sell the milk products. The top deck will be the pasture for forty cows that is connected by a bridge to allow the cows to walk off the farm and on to a land-based pier space for more walk-around space.

Van Wingerden describes the floating farm as “a floating laboratory” for developing new food supplies closer to cities on sea coasts or adjoining rivers and lakes.

She believes Asia will be a major market for the floating farm because many cities are located close to a body of water. There, she sees China as a major market, not just because of the large population living by the coast, but also because of the cities located along rivers such as the Yangtze.

Beladon is also looking at markets in Europe and North America, especially along the Atlantic and Pacific coasts.

Floating farms can help address rising demand for food by bringing farm production closer to consumers and providing sustainable advantages that lower the carbon foot print and provide an organic food product.

Beladon believes these advantages will mitigate the lower cost advantage of larger land-based farms, which rely on trucking and diesel-powered harvesting.[10]

CONCLUSION

The Netherlands, with its long history of reclaiming land and building dikes to defend against the sea, has now begun to build more floating structures that increase commercial value so as to offset the costs of sea level defense.

The Dutch example influenced the Buoyant House project’s investment into floating houses as a defense against flooding and sea level rise for coastal communities in Louisiana and around the world

Cities need to begin investing in new floating developments now, Koen Olthuis argues, or they will be threatened by rising seas and storm surges.

“In 20 years,” he adds, “cities are going to be different than they are today.”

NOTES

[1] Waterstudio.NL ARCHITECTURE, URBAN PLANNING & BUILDING ON WATER COMBINED PROJECT OVERVIEW SELECTION & COMPANY PROFILES (January 2019)

[2] https://www.scmdaleel.com/category/offshore-jack-up-rigs/213

[3] http://3kbo302xo3lg2i1rj8450xje-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/2016-0822-03-Move-out-01.jpg

4] https://www.macgregor.com/Products-solutions/products/port-and-terminal-equipment/floating-car-parks/

[5] http://schoonschipamsterdam.org/en/

[6] https://www.metabolic.nl/projects/schoonschip/

[7] http://schoonschipamsterdam.org/en/#mk-footer

[8] http://buoyantfoundation.org/about-us/

[9] http://buoyantfoundation.org/about-us/

[10] https://www.ajot.com/insights/full/ai-in-rotterdam-green-acres-meet-green-seas

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Ces maisons solaires flottantes résistent aux catastrophes naturelles

By Vincent Pons
Canal+
April.18.2019

Pour ne pas sombrer après les tsunamis, ces habitations combinent les meilleurs attributs des bateaux, des maisons flottantes et des villas côtières. Et elles se déplacent à 13 km/h.

Des solutions « sur-marines ». Face à la montée des eaux, les villes ont de plus en plus de mal à trouver des solutions. C’est sans compter sur l’expérience des Hollandais de Koen Olthuis avec leur cabinet d’architecture Waterstudio. Aujourd’hui, ils présentent l’Arkup, une maison flottante et auto-suffisante. Conçue pour Miami, elle offre une résistance aux tempêtes et aux inondations, fréquentes en Floride.

Bunker sur mer. Pour se protéger, la maison se dresse sur des piliers hydrauliques qui protègent des vagues en la rendant aussi stable qu’une maison terrestre. De plus, elle est capable de résister à un ouragan de catégorie 4, soit des vents allant jusqu’à 210 km/h. À la pointe de l’innovation, cette maison de 200 m2 munie de panneaux solaires fonctionne indépendamment du réseau électrique de la ville. Cerise sur le gâteau, une véritable station d’épuration récupère l’eau de pluie pour la purifier et la réutiliser.

Cette maison « roule » à 13 km/h. L’Arkup pouvant se déplacer à une vitesse de 13km/h, l’emplacement n’est plus un souci. On peut changer de place à souhait entre la mer, le ciel et la ville, tant qu’il y a de quoi s’amarrer. Et voici le bonus : considéré comme propriétaire d’un bateau auto-suffisant, dites adieu aux impôts fonciers et charges. Là au moins, vous serez protégé sur tous les fronts.

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These solar-powered floating homes are built to withstand floods and hurricanes

By Nicole Jewell
Inhahitat
April.1.2019
Photo Credits: ARKUP & Waterstudio

As many coastal cities struggle to come up with resiliency plans in the face of rising sea levels, Dutch architect Koen Olthuis with Waterstudio is creating sustainable, solar-powered floating residences that could offer the perfect solution. Already well-known for its high-end floating homes, Waterstudio and Miami-based Arkup are now teaming up with Artefacto, an environmentally friendly Brazilian furnishing brand, to create stylish floating houses that are not only resilient to storms and sea levels, but also represent the luxury style for which Miami is known.

Waterstudio has long been recognized for creating sustainable and attractive floating homes that can provide discerning homeowners with an “avant-garde life on water.” The residences are modern, cube-like structures that are completely self-sufficient, operating 100 percent off-grid thanks to solar power generation, eco-friendly waste management features, rainwater harvesting and water purification systems. Additionally, the homes are equipped with unique self-elevating systems that help the structures withstand high winds, floods and hurricanes.

In addition to the ultra sustainable and resilient features, the two-story floating homes boast interiors with a 775-square-foot living room, bedroom, kitchen and dining space, as well as an open-air rooftop lounge. Sliding glass doors, which almost make up the entirety of the front facade, lead out to a beautiful terrace.

Although the company has been working on its floating homes for some time, it recently announced a new partnership with Artefacto, a Brazilian furnishing company with a strong commitment to sustainability that is known for combining luxurious furniture made of raw materials with cutting-edge smart automation technologies. The floating residences will now be outfitted with eco-friendly furnishings, including high-end pieces made out of timber approved for use by the Brazilian Environment Department.

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Arkup’s incredible floating home is finally complete… and it’ll cost you $5.5 million

By Adam Williams
New Atlas
February.27.2019
Photo credits: Craig Denis

_{The Arkup #1 is rated to withstand Hurricane winds of up to 155 mph (250 km/h)(Credit: Arkup)}

You could be forgiven for thinking that Arkup’s ambitious concept for a floating home would never be realized, but it has indeed been built and is now for sale for a cool US$5.5 million. Boasting solar power, stabilizing hydraulic stilts, and its own engines, the first model was recently unveiled during the Miami Yacht Show.

The Arkup #1, as it’s officially called, is a 75 ft (22.9 m)-long two-story ultra-luxury houseboat comprising 4,350 sq ft (404 sq m) of floorspace. It was designed by Dutch architecture firm Waterstudio.NL and the model pictured was furnished by Brazil’s Artefacto.

Its most interesting feature compared to other floating homes we’ve seen is its hydraulic stilts. These can be deployed to a depth of 20 ft (6 m) to stabilize the dwelling or lift it above the water line to avoid waves and reduce hull maintenance. The firm also says that it’s rated to withstand Category 4 Hurricane winds of up to 155 mph (250 km/h).

There’s a lot of other tech installed in the Arkup #1 too, including a 36 kW solar panel array and up to 1,000 kWh battery bank that Arkup says is sufficient to power it off-the-grid. Rainwater is collected from the roof and purified for drinking, and a bunch of communication systems are used for the internet, TV and radio. The home is propelled by a pair of 100 kW (134 hp) electric azimuth thrusters, allowing it to reach 7 knots.

The Arkup #1 is fronted by a slide-out deck area, and generous glazing. The model shown features an open-plan ground floor layout with lounge, dining area, kitchen, and a bathroom. Upstairs, there are a total of four bedrooms, each with an en-suite bathroom.

The model pictured is for sale in Miami and Arkup tells us it plans to build three more in the next 12 months. The firm is also looking into the possibility of developing eco-resorts in the Middle East, Asia and the Caribbean.

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A $6 million floating home that can withstand Category 4 hurricanes is now a reality. Take a look inside

By Aria Bendix
Business Insider
February.25.2019
Photo credits: Craig Denis

After years of development, the housing startup Arkup has debuted a floating home that can withstand rising sea levels and Category 4 hurricanes.
The home contains a hydraulic system that lifts it above water and anchors it during heavy winds.
Arkup envisions a future where entire communities in Miami and other major cities are designed to float.

_{Foto: Arkup Arkup’s first floating home debuted in February.}

When the housing startup Arkup revealed its plan to build a floating, hurricane-proof yacht in 2017, South Florida had just witnessed the devastating effects of Hurricane Irma, a Category 4 storm that destroyed hundreds of residences.

The company’s models were designed to weather a storm of that magnitude, but it would be another two years before they became a reality.

In February, Arkup debuted its first floating residence at a yacht show in Miami. Climatologists have pointed to the city as one of the areas most vulnerable to climate change.

The price tag for a fully furnished residence is steep – just under $6 million – but Arkup has plans to deliver smaller, more affordable units down the line. The company is accepting offers on its first model, as well as future models that have yet to be built.

For now, the yacht’s solar-powered roofs and hydraulic anchoring system come at a high cost. Its sleek designs also cater to luxury clients who often prefer to live on or near the water.

Take a look inside Arkup’s first floating home.

As a longtime Miami resident, Arkup cofounder Arnaud Luguet noticed that local authorities were struggling to prepare for the effects of climate change.

_{Foto: The units are just as mobile as a typical yacht.sourceArkup}

Luguet saw floating homes as a way to make communities more resilient. He teamed up with Nicolas Derouin, an executive who shared his passion for the ocean and renewable energy, to create Arkup in 2016.

“We wanted to provide the next generation of floating homes or house boats that would be self-sufficient, sustainable, and also mobile,” Derouin told Business Insider.

Arkup’s model was inspired by floating houseboats in the Netherlands, where it’s common to live on the water.

_{Foto: The interior was designed by the home-furnishing company Artefacto.sourceArkup}

Luguet and Derouin partnered with the Netherlands-based architecture firm Waterstudio, which specializes in designing floating homes.

Both Arkup and Waterstudio envision a future in which entireneighborhoods are built on the water in major cities such as New York and Miami.

Arkup’s first-ever model can be built on either land or water.

_{Foto: Waterstudio sees water as an asset, not a challenge, to new construction.sourceArkup}

At 4,350 square feet, the home contains a customizable layout of four bedrooms and four-and-a-half bathrooms. It’s also mobile, so it can be driven to new locations.

Hydraulic studs anchor the yacht in place so it can withstand winds of up to 155 mph.

_{Foto: The residences provide 360-degree views of the water.sourceArkup}

The wind speed of a Category 4 hurricane ranges from 130 to 156 mph.

Although the home is designed to bob with the water during a storm, Derouin said the studs help stabilize the structure to prevent motion sickness among residents.

“We wanted [residents] to be as safe and comfortable in the house as they would be on land,” he said.

The yacht’s jack-up system allows the vessel to be lifted up to 20 feet above water.

_{Foto: Derouin said storm surge poses a greater danger to homes than heavy winds.sourceArkup}

Scientists predict the US could see nearly 6 feet of sea-level rise by the end of the century under the most extreme climate conditions. Arkup’s homes would clear these water levels, Derouin told Business Insider.

Residents can disconnect from sewage lines thanks to a system that collects, stores, and purifies rainwater.

_{Foto: Residents of an Arkup home can live off-grid.sourceArkup}

The homes also have zero emissions and are powered by rooftop solar panels.

Derouin said Arkup’s next venture is to build floating communities and resorts.

_{Foto: Miami could see nearly 6 feet of sea-level rise by 2100.sourceArkup}

The company hopes to use modular construction to build multiple units on the water. Derouin said Arkup has been in talks with private-island owners about developing floating communities.

The company is also interested in creating more affordable models, such as a floating complex of student homes. Derouin said Arkup is looking into building a “ranch” of smaller yachts that are each about 1,600 square feet. By building smaller, he said, Arkup can reduce its price tag.

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