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Architecture, urban planning and research in, on and next to water
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Giant snowflake

By Business Spotlight
March.2015
Photo credit Waterstudio

 

Recently, Dutch firms have carried their control over the sea one step further, pioneering floating buildings and cities as a solution to rising sea levels. One of them is the developer Dutch Docklands, which describes itself as having ‘learned to live with the water instead of fighting it’. it works closely with the firm of architects Waterstudio, run by awardwinning architect Koen Olthuis.
“The climate change generation is no longer interested in iconic architecture, but are looking for iconic solution,” says Olthuis. “It is not the result of the individual architect that that counts, but the effect on society.” Perhaps their most futuristic work is the Krystall hotel, which will open at the end of 2016. Designed to look like a giant floating snowflake, it is being built in the icy seas near the city TromsØ in Norway. The Hotel will have glass roofs so guests can watch the Northern Lights. Its hallways will be lined with futuristic blue shapes and fireplaces will be converted in transparent blocks to look like ice.
“We call it scarless development. If you take it away after 100 years or so, it will not leave any physical foot-print,” explains Olthuis, who says that Dutch attitude is: where there is nothing, anything is possible. “The Dutch created Holland out of the sea, and that mentality is in our DNA, forcing us to be creative in situation where there seem to be no obvious solution. Some of the innovations that were born of necessity soon show potential for worldwide use.”

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Projet D’Hotel Flottant En Verre

By Hotelsinsolites
November.2014

 

locon de neige flottant en vue pour 2016

KRYSTALL

Krystall sera un hôtel au toit de verre, flottant entre deux fjords dans le nord de la Norvège. Le cabinet d’architecture de Koen Olthuis, Waterstudio, et les développeurs néerlandais Dutch Docklands -tous deux spécialisés en structures flottantes- ont reçu le feu vert pour construire cet hôtel de luxe sur les eaux du cercle polaire arctique.

Dans cet environnement précieux, l’impact est bien évidemment au cœur des enjeux. L’hôtel sera construit en cale sèche et ensuite positionné en place. Conçu pour être autonome, il ne laissera pas d’empreinte durable sur son emplacement.
Sur ce flocon de 120m de diamètre accessible uniquement en bateau, on retrouvera toutes les prestations d’un 5* et 86 chambres minimalistes. Mais elles seront bordées par la mer et leur toit de verre offrira une vue parfaite sur le ciel de cette partie du monde, l’un des meilleurs endroits pour observer les aurores boréales.

Le groupe en charge la gestion ce de premier hôtel flottant en Europe n’est pas encore dévoilé et la date d’ouverture reportée depuis courant 2015. On vous tient informés.

 

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Drijvend luxehotel voor Noorse kust

By Architectenweb
August.2014

 

De kans is groot op een drijvend vijfsterrenhotel voor de kust van Noorwegen. De gemeente Tromsø, ontwikkelaar Dutch Docklands en architectenbureau Waterstudio.NL hebben een overeenkomst getekend.

Krystall Hotel moet het meest luxe hotel in het hoge noorden worden, als het aan Dutch Docklands ligt. Het hotel wordt ontworpen als een drijvend ijskristal en moet onder meer 86 kamers bieden. Na een intensief onderzoek naar mogelijke locaties en regelgeving is Waterstudio.NL gestart met het ontwerp van Krystall Hotel.

Het kleine maar bijzondere hotel moet de gasten een bijzondere ervaring met het noorderlicht bieden. Architect Koen Olthuis van Waterstudio.NL vertelt dat daarom een van de uitgangspunten is, dat het hotel een ‘glazen gebouw’ wordt: “Glasdaken voor de kamers zullen het onderscheidende kenmerk zijn”.

Stabiliteit

Het hotel wordt in delen in droogdokken gebouwd en op locatie geassembleerd. Het drijflichaam dat als basis dient zal erg groot zijn; dat zorgt tevens voor een stabiliteit waardoor werknemers en gasten geen beweging voelen. Stabiliteit wordt voorts versterkt door dempers, veren en kabels, maar ook de stervorm van het gebouw.

Het hotel zal geen vaste verbinding met het land hebben; gasten bereiken het Krystall Hotel per boot en ook alle verdere logistiek geschiedt via het water. Omdat het noorderlicht een belangrijke attractie wordt, komt het hotel ver genoeg uit de kust te liggen om de stadslichten van Tromsø geen storend element te laten zijn. De exacte locatie wordt nu onderzocht.

Overeenstemming

De internationaal opererende ontwikkelaar van drijvend vastgoed Dutch Docklands, Waterstudio.NL en de gemeente Tromsø hebben vorige week hun overeenstemming met een handtekening bezegeld. De bouw start naar verwachting half 2015; voor kerstmis 2016 moet het Krystall Hotel worden geopend en geëxploiteerd door een vijfsterren-hotelonderneming.

 

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Stjernearkitekter vil bygge flytende luksushotell i Tromsø

By Nordnytt
August.21.2014

 

 

Tromsø kommune har i dag signert en intensjonsavtale med selskapet Dutch Docklands om å bygge et flytende hotell utenfor byen.

Avtalen betyr at kommunen stiller seg positiv til at det femstjerners luksushotellet skal bygges i Tromsø.

Det nederlandske selskapet Dutch Docklands har planer om å bruke 500 millioner kroner på luksushotellet, som skal utformes som en flytende iskrystall, og inneholde 86 rom.

– Vi planlegger å bygge det mest luksuriøse hotellet i den nordlige delen av verden. Det vil bli et unikt femstjerners hotell som vil gi gjestene en opplevelse med nordlyset, men også andre aspekter av Norge og av denne delen av verden, sier Paul van de Camp administrerende direktør i Dutch Docklands.

Selskapet er eksperter på flytende konstruksjoner, og har tidligere blant annet bygget luksushotell på Maldivene.

For pengesterke gjester

Han sier at Tromsø ble valgt på grunn av historien sin, men også på grunn av at byen allerede har utbygd infrastruktur når det kommer til turisme.

– Er det et marked for et slikt hotell?

– Det vil bli et lite hotell, men i den øvre enden av skalaen. Det betyr at romprisene vil bli høyere enn det som allerede finnes på markedet i Tromsø. Vi retter oss mot folk som er villig til å betale for et visst komfortnivå og for å få opplevelser i nordlige strøk. Det er et enormt globalt marked for dette, sier van de Camp.

Nå skal selskapet samarbeide med kommunen om å få på plass de nødvendige tillatelsen, og finne ut hvor det flytende hotellet skal ligge.

Hvor og hvordan det skal bygges er ennå ikke avklart.

– Vi ønsker vanligvis å få gjort mest mulig av dette lokalt. Vi vet at norske håndverkere er kjent for å holde en høy standard, akkurat som nederlandske. Det viktigste for oss er kvaliteten på arbeidet, og får vi dette til lokalt, så støtter vi det, sier van de Camp.

Kommunen positiv

– Vi har skrevet under på en avtale om at vi er positive til at dette hotellet kommer til Tromsø kommune for å etablere seg her. Vi kan bistå med kartmateriale, og når de har funnet fram til hvor de vil at hotellet skal ligge, så kan vi ha et oppstartsmøte, sier Britt Hege Alvarstein byråd for byutvikling i Tromsø kommune.

Hun sier at kommunen nå driver med en revidering av kommuneplanen og en kystsoneplan for Tromsø.

– Vi har ikke tatt høyde for at vi skal ha et flytende hotell i kommunen, så det må vi nå ta høyde for, sier Alvarstein.

Plan- og bygningsloven, reguleringsplaner og ikke minst skipsleden i Tromsø blir førende for hvor hotellet kan ligge, men det blir trolig i en av fjordene rundt byen.

Miljøprofil

– Selskapet har sagt at de ønsker at hotellet skal ligge rundt en times reise unna flyplassen, sier Alvarstein.

Hun peker på at selskapet bak hotellet har en miljøprofil og blant annet samarbeide med UNESCO for å ta vare på miljøet rundt og under der de bygger, så de lager minst mulig fotavtrykk i naturen.

– Det er spennende teknologi som tas i bruk, og ets pennende prosjekt på alle områder, sier Alvarstein.

– Er det ikke allerede nok hotellrom i Tromsø?

– Vi så både under sjakk-OL og Arctic Race at det ikke var rom å oppdrive, så kommunen har ennå behov for flere hotellrom. Men dette er jo et marked som kommer utenom det vanlige. Det vil være med på å forsterke det eksisterende tilbudet i byen, mener Alvarstein.

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Could floating shipping containers help sort out the world’s slums?

By Barbara Speed
Written by Citymetric
August.14.2014 

 

“What if a city was as flexible as a shuffle puzzle?” Koen Olthuis asked in his 2012 TEDx talk. He was referring to those games in which you move squares around until you make a picture. At the time, his audience probably didn’t realise he was serious.

But using moveable little boxes to meet a city’s needs were exactly what Olthuis was proposing. His talk was on the subject of the “Floating City Apps” developed by his architectural firm, the Netherlands-based Waterstudio. (You may remember them from their plans for a floating golf course in the Maldives. Or maybe you saw their designs for a snowflake-shaped hotel off the coast of Norway.)

These mobile buildings would float on bodies of water at the edges of cities. They could also be moved around according to a city’s needs, and could fulfil a range of different functions. Some would be educational, with internet access and computers; others could act as bakeries, housing, healthcare centres, or floating mats of solar panels.

In June, the first piece of Olthuis’ shuffle puzzle was completed: an educational suite which will double up as an internet cafe in the evenings, all powered by solar panels on its roof. It’s been built inside a shipping container, to makes it easy to transport; a base constructed from thousands of plastic bottles collected by slum residents will be added once it reaches its destination.

It’s due to be shipped out to a slum in Manila in the autumn. Here’s the architect’s mock-up of the city app in situ.

Olthuis’ interest in water-based construction was inspired partly by his home country: around half the Netherlands lies below sea level, and massive amounts of water are pumped away daily to keep the country high and dry. But it’s not the low countries that could benefit most from this kind of architecture: it’s the rapidly growing and slum-packed cities of the developing world, and wet slums – those edging onto bodies of water, and so at risk of rising sea levels – were forefront in Olthuis’ mind when he came up with the idea:

“They’re some of the hardest areas to help, because they’re so close to the water,” he says. “People are unwilling to invest in development that could flood, or just wash away.” His hope is that these City Apps could help change that: the units they would rise with sea levels if an area floods, and could be moved elsewhere if necessary. This first app was funded by the prize money from the 2012 Architecture and Sea Level Rise Award, the studio and other sponsors; in future, the studio is hoping to build them then lease them out to NGOs and development agencies for a low monthly cost.

There’s a case for helping the world’s 1.1bn slum dwellers to more permanent settlements, rather than just improving the slums, of course. But in Olthuis’ view, “slums aren’t going to go away, so the only thing we can do is upgrade their prosperity”. There are a few creases to iron out first, though – at the moment, the studio may have to pay tax on transporting the Manila app, and are meeting with embassies to try and avoid this “real waste of money”.

While the city app will be run by a local organisation once in Manila, Olthuis is keen to stay involved. “The most important thing is that we can measure the app’s effects, and check how it’s working.” He wants to build hundreds, even thousands, more apps for different purposes around the world: 90 per cent of the world’s largest cities border a body of water, whether it be river, lake, or sea, so the project’s applications could stretch far beyond wet slums. Because of their floating foundations, the apps are relatively stable, though they may not work so well in waters prone to violent waves.

For Olthuis, floating architecture offers a way to use the dead space off the coasts of cities. It also offers flexibility, as units can be moved to a different location, or even another city, as the needs of the surrounding area change – just as you can change the apps on your phone.

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