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The Citadel: Europe’s first floating apartmentcomplex

The Guardian

The Dutch have been fighting the rising and falling tides for centuries, building dikes and pumping water out of areas that are below sea level. Now, rather than fight the water infiltrating their land, the Dutch will use it as part of a new development called ‘New Water’, which will feature the world’s first floating apartment complex, The Citadel. This “water-breaking” new project was designed by Koen Olthuis of Waterstudio in the Netherlands, and will use 25% less energy than a conventional building on land thanks to the use of water cooling techniques.

Olthuis is responsible for a number of floating residences around the world and he thinks that we should stop trying to contain water and learn to live with it. The New Water and the Citadel projects are an attempt to embrace water in the Netherlands, which is almost completely composed of wetlands. The project will be built on a polder, a recessed area below sea level where flood waters settle from heavy rains. There are almost 3500 polders in the Netherlands, and almost all of them are continually pumped dry to keep flood waters from destroying nearby homes and buildings. The New Water Project will purposely allow the polder to flood with water and all the buildings will be perfectly suited to float on top of the rising and falling water.

The Citadel will be the first floating apartment complex, although there are plenty of floating homes out there. Built on top of of a floating foundation of heavy concrete caisson, the Citadel will house 60 luxury apartments, a car park, a floating road to access the complex as well as boat docks. With so many units built into such a small area, the housing complex will achieve a density of 30 units per acre of water, leaving more open water surrounding the structure. Each unit will have its own garden terrace as well as a view of the lake.

A high focus will be placed on energy efficiency inside the Citadel. Greenhouses are placed around the complex, and the water will act as a cooling source as it is pumped through submerged pipes. As the unit is surrounded by water, corrosion and maintenance are important issues to consider. As a result, aluminum will be used for the building facade, due to its long lifespan and ease of maintenance. The individual apartments are built from prefabricated modules. The Citadel will be situated on a shallow body of water, and in the future numerous buildings, complexes and residences will float on the water alongside it.

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The Citadel: Europe’s First Floating Apartment Complex

Inhabitat, Bridgette Meinhold

The Dutch have been fighting the rising and falling tides for centuries, building dikes and pumping water out of areas that are below sea level. Now, rather than fight the water infiltrating their land, the Dutch will use it as part of a new development called ‘New Water‘, which will feature the world’s first floating apartment complex, The Citadel. This “water-breaking” new project was designed by Koen Olthuis of Waterstudio in the Netherlands, and will use 25% less energy than a conventional building on land thanks to the use of water cooling techniques.

Olthuis is responsible for a number of floating residences around the world and he thinks that we should stop trying to contain water and learn to live with it. The New Water and the Citadel projects are an attempt to embrace water in the Netherlands, which is almost completely composed of wetlands. The project will be built on a polder, a recessed area below sea level where flood waters settle from heavy rains. There are almost 3500 polders in the Netherlands, and almost all of them are continually pumped dry to keep flood waters from destroying nearby homes and buildings. The New Water Project will purposely allow the polder to flood with water and all the buildings will be perfectly suited to float on top of the rising and falling water.

The Citadel will be the first floating apartment complex, although there are plenty of floating homes out there. Built on top of of a floating foundation of heavy concrete caisson, the Citadel will house 60 luxury apartments, a car park, a floating road to access the complex as well as boat docks. With so many units built into such a small area, the housing complex will achieve a density of 30 units per acre of water, leaving more open water surrounding the structure. Each unit will have its own garden terrace as well as a view of the lake.

A high focus will be placed on energy efficiency inside the Citadel. Greenhouses are placed around the complex, and the water will act as a cooling source as it is pumped through submerged pipes. As the unit is surrounded by water, corrosion and maintenance are important issues to consider. As a result, aluminum will be used for the building facade, due to its long lifespan and ease of maintenance. The individual apartments are built from prefabricated modules. The Citadel will be situated on a shallow body of water, and in the future numerous buildings, complexes and residences will float on the water alongside it.

Click here to read the article

Click here for the website

Waterstudio’s Citadel on Inhabitat

Inhabitat, worlds most influential eco design website has published the Citadel

The Dutch have been fighting the rising and falling tides for centuries, building dikes and pumping water out of areas that are below sea level. Now, rather than fight the water infiltrating their land, the Dutch will use it as part of a new development called ‘New Water‘, which will feature the world’s first floating apartment complex, The Citadel. This “water-breaking” new project was designed by Koen Olthuis of Waterstudio in the Netherlands, and will use 25% less energy than a conventional building on land thanks to the use of water cooling techniques.

Olthuis is responsible for a number of floating residences around the world and he thinks that we should stop trying to contain water and learn to live with it. The New Water and the Citadel projects are an attempt to embrace water in the Netherlands, which is almost completely composed of wetlands. The project will be built on a polder, a recessed area below sea level where flood waters settle from heavy rains. There are almost 3500 polders in the Netherlands, and almost all of them are continually pumped dry to keep flood waters from destroying nearby homes and buildings. The New Water Project will purposely allow the polder to flood with water and all the buildings will be perfectly suited to float on top of the rising and falling water.

The Citadel will be the first floating apartment complex, although there are plenty of floating homes out there. Built on top of of a floating foundation of heavy concrete caisson, the Citadel will house 60 luxury apartments, a car park, a floating road to access the complex as well as boat docks. With so many units built into such a small area, the housing complex will achieve a density of 30 units per acre of water, leaving more open water surrounding the structure. Each unit will have its own garden terrace as well as a view of the lake.

A high focus will be placed on energy efficiency inside the Citadel. Greenhouses are placed around the complex, and the water will act as a cooling source as it is pumped through submerged pipes. As the unit is surrounded by water, corrosion and maintenance are important issues to consider. As a result, aluminum will be used for the building facade, due to its long lifespan and ease of maintenance. The individual apartments are built from prefabricated modules. The Citadel will be situated on a shallow body of water, and in the future numerous buildings, complexes and residences will float on the water alongside it.

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Wie Wat Waar Web… Architect!

Constructie CONTOUR zomer 2009

In  het  Westland,  midden  in  de  driehoek  Rotterdam, Hoek van Holland en Den Haag wordt gewerkt aan een nieuwe innovatieve woonbeleving. Tussen Naaldwijk en ‘s-Gravenzande  ontstaat  de  eerste  woonomgeving  in ontpolderd gebied: ‘Het Nieuwe Water’. Door te stoppen  met  droogpompen  van  de  polder  ontstaat  een gebied  van  80  hectare  water.  Dit  gebied  zal  er  in  de toekomst  voor  zorgen  dat  er  bij  hevige  regenval genoeg ruimte is om overtollig water te bergen. In ‘Het Nieuwe  Water’  worden  ruim  1.200  woningen  gerealiseerd, waarvan 600 drijvend. Het eerste project in dit gebied is de Citadel.

VORMENTAAL

Bij  het  ontwerp  van  de  Citadel  ligt  het  ambitieniveau hoog.  Bij  drijvend  wonen  denkt  men  vaak  aan  bruin houten  woonarken. Met het ontwerp van de Citadel willen wordt duidelijk dat er veel meer mogelijk is. De Citadel  kenmerkt  zich  door  haar  vloeiende  vormentaal, moderne  materialisering  en  imposante  verschijningsvorm. Voor de opbouw van het gebouw is gekozen voor een  bijzonder,  architectonisch  element.  Door  het  element  op  unieke  wijze  te  stapelen  en  te  schakelen,  ontstaat  een  ogenschijnlijk  willekeurige  structuur,  met  een duidelijke samenhang en identiteit. De keuze voor deze methode  heeft  tevens  tot  gevolg  dat  woningen  de beschikking hebben over grote terrassen en daktuinen.

MET DE BOOT

Noemenswaardig  is  vooral  de  architectonische  beleving op de route van de parkeergarage tot in je eigen

woning.  Middels  een  lift  die  je  tot  in  je  eigen  woning brengt,  betreed  je  de  ruime  woning.  Een  tweede manier om het gebouw te betreden is met de boot. Je vaart met je boot naar je eigen woning en legt aan. De hogergelegen woningen hebben een collectieve haven.

ENERGIE

Naast  toepassingen  van  duurzame  materialen  met lange  levensduur,  worden  voor  Het  Nieuwe  Water samenwerkingen  aangegaan  met  de  glastuinbouwers in  de  omgeving.  Resultaat  hiervan  is  dat  de  Citadel energie kan gebruiken die direct door de eigen omgeving wordt opgewekt.

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