Floating Apartment Complex in Europe

New Water is a Dutch project in water-management development located in a former polder in Naaldwijk. With rising sea levels and reoccurring flooding, the focus of  the project was to adapt to the water instead of fighting it.

Europe’s first settlement of this kind will consist of pre-fab houses with aluminum facades on top of a heavy concrete caisson foundation, floating on a shallow body of water. The master plan calls for 1200 floating dwellings, and the first batch out is the apartment complex Citadel.

The images from Citadel show a luxury condo style more likely to be found in Florida or Barcelona, but these 60 apartments are scheduled to be constructed in the Netherlands next year. Architect Koen Olthuis and Waterstudio focus on energy efficiency and thanks to water cooling techniques, the Citadel buildings will use 25% less energy than regular land  based houses.

With 70% the earth covered by water, the  possibilities for these kinds of housing reach well beyond the horizon.

Via: Inhabitat