Corporate profileINTRODUCTION

DeltaSync is a leading specialist in the field of floa-

ting urbanization. We provide consulting and design

services and innovative solutions for delta areas.

As an interdisciplinary think tank, we develop and

implement flood proofing strategies.

By taking an integrated approach, that combines ana-

lysis, design and realisation, DeltaSync acts as a cata-

lyst of visionary plans. Ideas or strategies are quickly

taken to the next level, by providing technically fea-

sible and aesthetically, economically and socially res-

ponsible solutions. In relation to this, sustainable de-

velopment is a key aspect on all scales, from a single

building to a complete city.

Currently, for the first time in human history the

amount of people that live in urban areas is larger than

the amount that live in rural areas. The degree of ur-

banization is expected to rise further towards 70% in

the 21st century. This growth will for a considerable

part take place in low-lying deltas that are vulnera-

ble to flooding and climate change. Already there is a

shortage of space and cities rely completely on exter-

nal sources for food, water and energy. With the incre-

asing scarcity of resources there is a growing need for

cities to be more self-sufficient.

Therefore there is a great need for new sustainable

flood-proof concepts for urbanization of delta areas.

Constructing floating buildings is a promising solution.

It enables multi-functional use of space in densely po-

pulated areas, without further increasing flood risk. A

good example of such a concept is the floating city.

This concept can only be developed by investigating

different scale levels in conjunction, ranging from buil-

ding level, neighbourhood level to city level. To ensure

that it is actually implemented, it is important that the

feasibility, spatial integration and social aspects are

fully included in the analysis and design.

mISSION

DeltaSync’s mission is to design and develop the first

self-sufficient floating city in the world. The realization

of the Floating Pavilion in Rotterdam, the largest public

floating building in the Netherlands, is the first milesto-

ne towards achieving this mission.

vISION CORpORATe vALUeS

DeltaSync reflects the following values:

• Sustainability

DeltaSync recognizes its responsibility towards our

planet and acknowledges that preservation of the

world’s resources and ecosystems for present and fu-

ture generations is of major importance. Sustainability

is therefore an integral part of all projects. DeltaSync

strives to create a balance between the needs of the

users and the environment and develops innovative

techniques and concepts to provide buildings with lo-

cal water and energy resources.

• Creativity and Innovation

Creativity and innovation play an important role in the

company. Innovation and the search for new unex-

pected solutions are important drivers in DeltaSync’s

work. Problems are analyzed from different view-

points and the solutions integrate water management,

sustainable development, architecture and spatial

planning into multidisciplinary proposals.

• Collaboration

DeltaSync believes in collaboration between resear-

chers, designers, entrepreneurs and government

agencies to obtain new insights and solutions in or-

der to contribute to the challenges cities in delta areas

are facing. In an early stage partners are involved and

consortia are formed. Within these partnerships, inte-

grated and multidisciplinary knowledge is developed.

FLOATING URBANIZATION:

• Is a unique and promising growth market

• Creates new space in densely populated areas

• Combines urban development and water retention

• Is a safe and climate proof solution

• Offers urban flexibility and movable buildings

• Is easily combined with sustainable technology such

as light weight construction and self-sufficient systems

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KNOWLeDge AND eXpeRTISe

DeltaSync has specialized in all aspects of floating ur-

banization. The past years we have developed speci-

alist knowledge in several areas. We excel in the inte-

gration of water management, design and technology.

Examples of our expertise with respect to floating

construction and flood proof development are the fol-

lowing:

Technology and engineering

• Floating and flood proof construction

• Structural design

• Building technology

• Water management

Architecture and design

• Architectural design

• Strategic visions

• Spatial integration

• Concept development

Socio-economic

• Feasibility and business cases

• Legal aspects, legislation and regulation

• Collective private commissioning

environmental

• Energy and water supply

• Sustainable development

• Water and mobility

Similar to other design and consultancy firms, we pro-

vide design and consultancy services of good quality

at a competitive price. DeltaSync distinguishes itself

by an integrated approach in which analysis, design

and implementation are combined. At an early stage,

we engage in conversation with all stakeholders inclu-

ding local authorities, water authorities and utilities.

This approach avoids unnecessary delays and guaran-

tees the feasibility of our innovative solutions.

AppROACH

DeltaSync’s core qualities are the ability to initiate and

realise complex projects, specialist knowledge and an

integrated approach to analysis, design and social pro-

cesses. This enables us to come to surprising and in-

novative, but also feasible solutions. Many of our pro-

jects are self-initiated. The most notable example is

the Floating Pavilion in Rotterdam: an iconic project in

the field of climate adaptation, which is currently being

used as the National Water Centre.

CORe QUALITIeS

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Floating City FUTURe vISION

The Floating City is a concept for sustainable, in-

novative urbanization in a densely occupied delta

area. It is a climate robust solution for urban de-

velopment. In contrast to conventional urbaniza-

tion, the Floating City can cope with water level

fluctuations. Thus, it is a city without flood risk. In

this project special attention was paid to themes

of sustainability and mobility. The project received

the first prize in the international Royal Haskoning

Delta Competition.

CLIENT: Royal Haskoning Deltacompetition

LOCATION: IJmeer, NL

DESIGN: 2006

The Floating City is combined with the construction of

a floating highway between Amsterdam and Almere.

Part of the building, which is located beneath the

water surface, serves as parking space. The Floating

City is self-sufficient in terms of water and energy

supply. Water is either collected through rain water

harvesting or can be drawn from the large reservoir

on which the city floats. Positioning the city on a

large body of water also provides opportunities for

implementing thermal energy storage systems.

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Floating PavilionROTTeRDAm

Initiated by DeltaSync, the Floating pavilion is in-

tended as a pilot for building on water and a first

step towards floating urbanization. The urban de-

velopment of unprotected areas outside the dikes is

of major importance to the city of Rotterdam. With

this project the municipality of Rotterdam takes

a pioneering role in climate adaptation and delta

technology.

Rotterdam has started the (re)development of the

City Ports, consisting of 1600 ha of unprotected land

and water. The Floating Pavilion demonstrates how

cities can pro-actively adapt to the effects of climate

change. It has been located in the Rijnhaven until 2015

and afterwards will be floated towards another loca-

tion. The building is used as exhibition and conference

space and hosts the National Water Centre.

CLIENT: Municipality of Rotterdam

LOCATION: Rotterdam, NL

PARTNER: PDA

DESIGN: 2009

REALISATION: 2010

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Indoor climate concept

The floating pavilion features a demand-driven cli-

mate system: at every moment in time the climate

conditioning is carefully matched to the function and

number of people of each space. A lot of energy and

material is saved by putting it only where it’s needed.

Solar transmission is regulated by applying reflective

printing to the foil. To prevent over-heating in summer,

large parts of the top and bottom of the domes can be

opened to create a stack effect, which provides a re-

freshing breeze without using mechanical ventilation.

Cooling with solar heat

Vital parts of the building, such as the auditorium, are

situated within an insulated inner shell. In this area ad-

ditional measures have been taken to achieve an ener-

gy efficient indoor climate. Solar heat is used to cool.

This sounds contradictory, but it relies on a common

process used by our skin to cool our body: transpira-

tion. The evaporation of liquid on the surface of our

skin extracts heat from our body. In the floating pavi-

lion the ventilation air is dried by a sorption material.

When water is added it evaporates and cools down

the air. It is then regenerated by heat from solar col-

lectors. Obviously, during cold days the solar panels

are used as a regular heating device.

‘Cathedral effect’

Phase Change Material (PCM) are a high-tech substi-

tute for thick masonry walls. Similar to the heavy walls

of an old church, that remains cool on a summer day,

PCM’s provide a latent heat store. The difference is

that the energy is absorbed by the material changing

from one phase to another. This energy-intensive pro-

cess results in a lightweight alternative to its ancient

predecessor.7

Floating villasHARNASCHpOLDeR, DeLFT

For two private customers a design has been made

for a floating villa in the Harnaschpolder in Delft.

The villas conform to the objectives of the clients

and at the same time seek mutual similarity.

Living on water appeals to the imagination. No less than

30% of the Dutch population regards this new residential

concept as a serious option. The ‘waterhome’ is rapidly

developing into a mature house typology, with all con-

veniences you would find in a conventional house and a

unique location on the water.

The relation between the villas and the water are a key

aspect of the design, both visually and physically. The ter-

races are right near the water and in one of the villas the

water even enters the building in the form of a pool and

cascade. Another aspect that is especially important for

water homes is privacy. The water doesn’t allow one to

put up simple fences or plant trees. Therefore, privacy

has been an integral part of the design.

CLIENT: private individual

LOCATION: Delft, NL

DESIGN: 2010

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Floating homesHARNASCHpOLDeR, DeLFT

The city of Delft is developing floating houses in

the new neighbourhood Harnaschpolder. Floating

buildings are still a unique construction method

and even more so in the Harnaschpolder, where

private individuals are collectively building their

own dream house. Six sustainable waterhomes

will be developed in a water retention area. The

municipality of Delft cooperates with DeltaSync

and future residents in the development and rea-

lisation of this project.

Collective private development is an alternative to

large scale real estate development. The involvement

of the future residents in the development stimulates

quality and variety in urban development plans. In this

project DeltaSync has been hired to assist the future

residents in the design, and to advice on sustainability

and technical floating construction issues. A strategy

has been developed with building principles and res-

traints, subdivision plans and solutions for access and

parking. Cooperation between the different stakehol-

ders and the enormous commitment of the future re-

sidents was crucial.

CLIENT: Municipality of Delft

LOCATION: Delft, NL

DESIGN: 2010

Preliminary design studies

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Blue RevolutionWith the predicted scarcity of water, fossil fuel and

food resources, the necessity to develop floating

cities is greater than ever before. The current food

crisis - almost 1 billion people suffer famine today

- shows that world food production systems have

trouble keeping up with rapid increase of global po-

pulation and prosperity. Agricultural productivity is

lagging because prime resources, water, phosphates

and fossil fuels, are under pressure. At the same time

increased urbanization will swallow up nearly a fifth

of the fertile croplands by the end of this century.

Food scarcity is, above all, a land scarcity issue. If part

of the future urbanization and food demand can be met

by relocating it on the oceans, a sustainable solution can

be offered. Floating food cities even have several additi-

onal benefits. Nutrients that are wasted by conventional

cities can be reused to grow algae, fish and crops on

water. The risk of flooding will be averted and oppor-

tunities are created to apply new technologies of water

and energy production.

Especially now, in times of crises, a new and convin-

cing perspective that enables us to correct the errors

of cities on land is vital. In order to create cities where

people can live truely more sustainable and with a clear

conscience.

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Seasteading Implementation PlanReSeARCH AND pReLImINARy DeSIgN

During this project DeltaSync developed a concept

implementation strategy, a preliminary design and cost

calculation model for The Seasteading Institute. The

Seasteading Institute is working on enabling seastead-

ing communities - floating cities - which will allow the

next generation of pioneers to peacefully test new ideas

for government. The implementation strategy consist-

ed of a growth strategy, an estimation of the degree

of independence, an overview of the required location

characteristics, a location analysis and a cost calcula-

CLIENT: The Seasteading Institute, USA (CA)

LOCATION: Anywhere

Growth strategy

tion model. This calculation model integrated not only

the costs for a floating platform but also included a com-

parison between the use of conventional energy and

water supply and the use of alternative energy like solar

power and rainwater. The preliminary design included a

multi-layer approach integrating spatial layout, movabil-

ity, seakeeping, comfort and structural characteristics.

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RijnhavenparkROTTeRDAm

In cooperation with the INHolland University of

Applied Sciences, DeltaSync developed a master-

plan for redevelopment of the ‘Rijnhaven’ harbor

in Rotterdam. A floating park, consisting of islands

that host a great variety of functions: flexible office

space, sport facilities, a swimming pool, a floating

market, restaurants and a theatre. The ambition is to

create a future proof concept for floating recreation.

Local inhabitants, companies and students are in-

volved in the realization of this plan. They will take

part in management, programming and development,

which adds to the sense of community. The floating is-

lands are constructed from economically standardized

elements. The fact that the islands are floating gives

the opportunity to create a flexible urban plan, which

can be realized in several phases and can be adapted

to future developments.

CLIENT: Stichting Rijnhavenpark / INHolland

LOCATION: Rijnhaven, Rotterdam, NL

DESIGN: 2010

The project will generate extra jobs, will stimulate

entrepreneurship and a wide variety of study and

research topics for students of the universities in the

area. The ambition of the Rijnhavenpark is to create an

inspiring and future urban concept that enhances the

reputation of Rotterdam as an innovative, sustainable,

vibrant and livable city.

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Floating districtpAmpUSHAveN, ALmeRe

The objective of the study is a floating district in Al-

mere pampushaven. This area is available now as a

temporary exposition of a floating district. Floating-

Life has been granted use of pampushaven area for

10 years. After this period various parts of the expo

can be dismantled and moved elsewhere.

Pampushaven area is reserved for 10 years, as a tes-

ting ground for sustainable floating development. The

project aims at exploring new spatial possibilities of

this new kind of urbanization and investigate techno-

logies that enable flexible and self-sufficient cities in

the future. In order to close the metabolic cycle of the

district, the use of natural resources and waste pro-

duction is minimized.

CLIENT: FloatingLife

LOCATION: Pampushaven, Almere, NL

DESIGN: 2011

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RoadshowWATeR mANAgemeNT IN THe CITy OF THe FUTURe

The Roadshow ‘Water Management in the City of

the Future’ has been developed by DeltaSync in

collaboration with Tauw and Deltares as part of

the Living with Water program. The roadshow is

an interactive workshop where professionals are

challenged to think about future roles and tasks

in the realisation of innovations in the watercity

of the future.

The roadshow has already been organised at various

water boards, a municipality and a housing associa-

tion. Topics of the roadshow include: decentralized

concepts of water management, water as an energy

source, and water proof urban development. The

roadshow consists of the following components

1. Innovative concepts of urban watermanagement

2. New tasks and new roles of water management

organisations

3. Benchmark transition potential

4. Drawing up guiding principles for the transition to more

sustainable water management

UrbanWaterScanFLOOD pROOF URBAN DeveLOpmeNT

The hustle and bustle of everyday life and the rise

of the 24-hour economy creates a growing need

for space, peace and quiet. This leads to the de-

parture of certain income groups out of the cities

to regain rural life near nature and water. Cities

suffer from a decrease in population diversity.

An attractive proposition that cities can offer is the

combination of living quality similar to the countryside

and a short distance to the city. In order to determine

what possibilities exist in regaining population diversi-

fication for cities, DeltaSync developed the UrbanWa-

terScan. This tool gives insight into the qualities and

preconditions that must be met in order to transform

these city locations into suitable water living areas.

Various aspects are studied, such as future flood pre-

dictions and scenarios, water storage demands and

fuctional and spatial qualities.

In commission of the municipality of Arnhem 8 loca-

tions have been examined to determine the top three

suitable locations for urban development on water.

CLIENTS: Waterboard De Dommel

Waterboard Rivierenland

Waterboard Rijnland

Waterkader Haaglanden

Eigen Haard

LOCATION: Anywhere

CLIENTS: Municipality of Arnhem

LOCATION: Arnhem

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In cooperation with a private investor new con-

cepts for sustainable floating neighbourhoods have

been designed. The aim was to develop inspiring

visions for future floating homes and take the next

step towards floating developments that are more

cost efficient but at the same time energy efficient

and aesthetically pleasing.

In this project an ensemble of five terraced floating

homes was designed. The radial layout provides op-

timal orientation towards sunlight, while at the same

time privacy is realised. An important objective of the

design was to create more comfort than current floa-

ting homes. The large platform prevents oscillation

on the water and the submerged part of the floating

structure is used as a parking area. This enables resi-

dents to park right at their home.

Easy Water Living DeveLOpmeNT

CLIENT: private individual

LOCATION: generic

DESIGN: 2010

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Floating Utility UnitDeveLOpmeNT

Living on water offers great opportunities for flexi-

ble and sustainable housing, but utilities are cur-

rently a major obstacle in large scale floating urban

developments. A question that remains is how to

supply these neighbourhoods with water, electricity

and communication network facilities. The floating

utility unit provides a flexible framework for delive-

ring local utility services, and at same time provides

floating infrastructure.

The Floating Utility Unit is not to be regarded as a de-

finitive product. It is rather a toolbox that can be utili-

zed at different locations with specific demands. The

consideration of sustainable technology and feasibility

is used as a basic principle. A business enterprise or

foundation exploits the Utility Units, so that from a

user perspective there is hardly any difference with

regular public utilities. This system features plug’n’play

connections and integrated piping and cables provides

a flexible solution to utility services for floating urba-

nization.

CLIENT: Housing Experiments Steering Group (SEV)

LOCATION: generic

DESIGN: 2008

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With a multidisciplinary team of students and pro-

fessionals of DWA, edifico and Roseliekvandervel-

den, DeltaSync designed a self-sustaining floating

house. This design was an entry in the design com-

petition ‘Duurzaam drijvend wonen’ from stadsdeel

Oost-Watergraafsmeer, Amsterdam.

The floating house is inspired by the symbiotic relation

between tree and fungus. The house is constructed of

two parts: the backbone as the tree and the capsules

as the fungus. The backbone supports the capsules

and transports ‘nutrients’ such as energy, water and

waste. Through symbiosis they form a comfortable

living environment.

The backbone is the core of the house; all fixed func-

tions and installations are located here. The shape of

the backbone is optimised for wind and solar energy

production. The windmill for example produces twice

as much energy as in a normal situation. The house

can be turned so the orientation will always be optimal

for energy production.

The capsules provide free and adaptable space. The

backbone, capsules and floaters are modulAIR, so

the house can adapt to changing needs of the inhabi-

tants. The house is built completely from flexible and

demountable parts. Occupants will become co-owner

of a company, ‘Rent to Recycle’, where the parts are

manufactured and repaired collectively. This will en-

sure that every part will return to its cycle at the end

of its lifespan.

ModulAIRvISION

floor plan

CLIENT: Stadsdeel Oost-Watergraafsmeer

LOCATION: Amsterdam, NL

DESIGN: 2010

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FloodProBEReSeARCH

FloodproBe is a european research project with

the objective of providing cost-effective solutions

for flood risk reduction in urban areas. FloodproBe

aims to develop technologies, methods and tools for

flood risk assessment and for the practical adapta-

tion of new and existing buildings, infrastructure

and flood defences. This will lead to a better un-

derstanding of vulnerability, flood resilience and

defence performance.

This research supports implementation of the Floods

Directive through the development of more effective

flood risk management strategies. The work is being

undertaken in close partnership with industry, and is

utilising pilot sites across Europe, to help provide prac-

tical industry guidance and cost effective construction

solutions.

The objectives and principal aims are to improve me-

thods for assessing the vulnerability to flooding of the

urban environment, especially by extending conven-

tional methods with the ability to assess indirect im-

pacts of damage to networks and assets with a high

value density.

Better understanding and assessment methods of ur-

ban flood defence performance will help to develop

suitable protection measures and to increase the cost-

effectiveness of future investments. New construction

technologies and concepts are developed and tested

and the results are to be disseminated to support im-

plementation of the EU Flood Directive.

CLIENT: European Union, KP7

PROJECT: 2009-2012

21

multifunctional use is often mentioned as a pro-

mising solution to realise water retention space in

densely populated delta areas. DeltaSync has re-

searched the possibilities for multifunctional use in

Rijnenburg, close to Utrecht, for the Water board

De Stichtse Rijnlanden.

In this project, the possibilities to combine water re-

tention with other functions, such as recreation and

housing, were explored. A specific topic is the reali-

sation of floodproof buildings. A spatial plan is made

with different types of floodproof housing types. The

economical and management feasibility was also in-

vestigated.

Rijnenburg WATeR AND AReA DeveLOpmeNT

CLIENT: Water board De Stichtse Rijnlanden

LOCATION: Rijnenburg, NL

PROJECT: 2011

FLOATING FLOATING IN PEAT

ON STILTS ECO DWELLING MOUND

DRY FLOODPROOFING FLOOD SHELTER22

Water & MobilityReSeARCH

The ‘Water and mobility’ study investigated the

possible contribution of urban water systems in im-

proving accessibility of historic city centres of delta

cities in the Netherlands.

Many cities suffer from severe accessibility problems

and heavy congestion. Expanding the road infrastruc-

ture needs space which is often scarce. The existing

water system offers flexible possibilities to improve

the accessibility of cities. In the Netherlands, water

was the most important mode of transportation un-

til the 19th century. In that period, the train became

more important and many canals were filled in, be-

cause of hygienic problems and water pollution. Ho-

wever, in many cities the main water infrastructure is

still present. In addition, many Dutch cities have plans

to restore the historic water systems.

In eight Dutch cities the feasibility of using the urban

water system for mobility was studied. This was done

in a co-creation approach with the local municipal go-

vernments and included expert interviews and design

workshops. The historic use of water for mobility was

studied by evaluation of historic documents. Subse-

quently, the current use of the water system was eva-

luated and current water retention and accessibility

problems were analysed. Future possibilities to utilize

water systems for better accessibility were developed

by a ‘research by design.’ method. This included tech-

nical feasibility studies and spatial designs of several

alternatives. Finally, general conclusions were made

and the applicability of the results was evaluated.

CLIENT: The Netherlands Architecture Fund

LOCATIONS: 8 Dutch cities

PROJECT: 2009

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LocationScan Floating Icon CITy pORTS, ROTTeRDAm

In preparation of the development of the Floating

pavilion in Rotterdam a study was conducted on the

relevant spatial, technical and policy aspects with

regard to floating construction. Furthermore, the

City ports area in Rotterdam was investigated, in

order to find the most suitable location for a floa-

ting demonstration project.

The LocationScan has been executed in two phases.

In the first phase, a shortlist of possible locations has

been made through a study on boundary conditions in

the City Ports area. This encompasses physical (depth,

waves) and juridical (ownership, regulations) bounda-

ry condition. In the second phase the most suitable

locations were determined by applying criteria and a

functional analysis of the planning area.

CLIENT: Municipality of Rotterdam

PROJECT: 2008

NEN Advice

In 2009 the Netherlands Standardization Institute

(NeN) initiated a project that aims at developing

new building standards for floating buildings. The

new NTA (Industry Technical Agreement) will fo-

cus on aspects such as structural stability, draught,

canting, accessibility, fire protection and mooring

facilities.

DeltaSync is one of the two design firms that are par-

ticipating in this project and acts as a consultant and

sounding board concerning floating construction. The

initiative was started to help solve issues in current

regulation and legislation. In 2011 the final NTA for

floating structures will be finalized and published. The

aim is twofold: to define boundary conditions where

necessary, but also try and find opportunities to ex-

tend the limits of current legislation.

CLIENT: Netherlands Standardisation Institute (NEN)

PERIODE: 2010-2011

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Collective CommissionHARNASCHpOLDeR, DeLFT

The city of Delft is planning to develop floating hou-

ses in the Harnaschpolder, a new neighbourhood

close to Den Hoorn. Six houses will be realized in a

water retention area. The municipality of Delft coo-

perates with DeltaSync and future residents in the

design and realisation of this project.

Collective private development is an alternative to

large scale real estate development. The involvement

of the future residents in the development stimulates

quality and variety in urban development plans. In this

project DeltaSync has been hired to assist the future

residents in the design, and to advice on sustainability

and technical floating construction issues. A strategy

has been developed with building principles and res-

traints, subdivision plans and solutions for access and

parking.

Tasks:

• Process management: develop phasing and time

schedule of the project, identifying and engaging key

stakeholders, communication with future residents

• Consultancy: technical advice on floating structures,

construction costs, sustainability, financing and per-

mits, water quality issues and utilities.

• Co-creation: assisting residents in the design and de-

velopment of their personal floating house.

• Design competition: organization of design contest

for students from regional educational institutions.

CLIENT: Municipality of Delft

TIMEFRAME: 2009-2012

Innovative Water ManagementTeCHNOpOLIS, DeLFT

Science park Technopolis in Delft aims to attract

the top businesses, focussing on innovative the-

mes such as energy, water, climate and delta tech-

nology. Consequently it is of great importance to

make these themes visible in the area. DeltaSync

conducted an exploratory study on the potential

contribution of innovative water management to

Technopolis.

The report includes innovations to use water for mo-

bility, as energy source and for floating urbanization.

Sustainable urban water management strategies were

proposed that will contribute to a more sustainable

water system and the international prestige of Tech-

nopolis as a frontrunner on climate adaptation, sustai-

nability and water management.

CLIENT: Science Port Holland

PROJECT: 2010

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KARINA CZApIeWSKADIReCTOR pROJeCT DeveLOpmeNT

Karina Czapiewska is a specialist in the field

of multidisciplinary area development, pro-

ject management and sustainable develop-

ment. She graduated at the faculty of Archi-

tecture at Delft University of Technology with

a minor in Sustainable Development (TIDO)

and is responsible for business development,

sales and consultancy on feasibility studies,

flood proof area development and living on

water. Since she first learned about the pos-

sibility of floating cities in during her study

she committed herself to realize the first self

supporting floating city in the world.

RUTgeR De gRAAFmANAgINg DIReCTOR

Rutger de graaf is civil engineer and specialist in

the field of floating urbanisation and sustainabili-

ty. He graduated cum laude at the faculty of Civil

engineering of Delft University of Technology.

In 2009 he finished his phD thesis (cum laude)

on innovations in urban water management to

reduce the vulnerability of cities. He holds a

position as professor Adaptive Construction at

the Rotterdam University of Applied Science. At

the company he focuses on water management,

strategy, innovation and sustainable urbaniza-

tion combined with floating constructions.

BART ROeFFeNCReATIve DIReCTOR

As principle architect Bart Roeffen was

in charge of the design and construction

supervision of the Floating pavilion in Rot-

terdam. This is considered to be one of the

leading floating projects and a milestone in

the technological development of floating

urbanization. Advanced 3D technology

was adopted in order to translate spatial

concepts into reality and optimize complex

shapes. Roeffen is driven to innovate con-

struction industry in terms of production

and sustainable development.

BARBARA DAL BO’ ZANONARCHITeCT AND ReSeARCHeR

Barbara Dal Bo’ Zanon graduated at Univer-

sity IUAv of venice with master degree in

‘Sustainable Architecture’. After her gradu-

ation she joined DeltaSync’s team, first as an

intern, and later as employee. She worked

on a project for a floating district in Almere

pampushaven. Her design approach is sus-

tainability driven, developing the project

from the definition of its goals, analyzing

local resources and considering the project’s

impacts and mitigations.

2626

Op vrijdagnacht 26 juni is op het Delft-

seplein, bij het Centraal Station, een

jonge vrouw aangerand en mishandeld.

Rond kwart over één loopt zij achter het

Nationale Nederlanden gebouw langs.

Twee mannen komen haar tegemoet en

een van de mannen spreidt zijn armen,

grijpt haar vast en betast haar. De vrouw

verzet zich en krijgt daarop een kop-

stoot. Ze slaat tegen de grond. De twee-

de man trekt de dader vervolgens mee in

de richting van het Centraal Station. Van

de dader zijn camerabeelden gemaakt,

die worden getoond in de uitzending.

BrandactieDe brandweermannen van kazerne

Baan hebben een bijzonder klusje: ze

gaan rookmelders uitdelen bij huurwo-

ningen in het Oude Noorden. Het is

onderdeel van een grote preventiecam-

pagne in de wijk. Bewoners krijgen

rookmelders en met brandweermannen

maken ze een rondje door de woning

om mogelijke brandonveilige situaties

vast te stellen.

RotterdamS T A D S K R A N T 14 oktober 2009 nummer 42 Pagina 3

Het REVIT-project helpt al ruim vijf

jaar jongeren weer terug de schoolban-

ken in en de werkvloer op. Geestelijk

vader van het project is Frans Dijkman.

Het viel de voormalig havenman op dat

de haven geen afspiegeling meer was

van de Rotterdamse samenleving. Door

de modernisering en de beperkte in-

stroom van mensen was de sector tot

een ‘blank bolwerk’ verworden. Frans

vond dat hier iets aan moest gebeuren:

‘We zijn eerst een rondje gaan maken

langs de werkgevers en instellingen. Al

snel kwamen we erachter dat we de op-

zet klein moesten houden, om die ver-

volgens als een olievlek te laten wer-

ken.’ Dankzij de inzet van het

Havenbedrijf en Bureau Daad (SoZa-

We) en de medewerking van het

Scheepvaart en Transport College en

het Jongerenloket (CWI), kon het plan

gerealiseerd worden. De boodschap

aan de werkgevers in de havenwereld

was duidelijk: ‘De stad heeft altijd veel

voor jullie betekend, betekenen jullie

nu eens wat voor de stad!’

De jongeren die het REVIT-traject in

gaan hebben vaak geen startkwalifica-

ties en zouden anders niet voor een

baan in de haven in aanmerking ko-

men. Frans: ‘We trekken een duidelijk

plan. De eerste drie maanden worden

de jongens intensief begeleid. Als er

problemen thuis zijn komen we bij ze

langs. Zo nodig helpen we bij het zoe-

ken van woonruimte of met schuldsa-

nering.’ Die eerste drie maanden wer-

ken de jongeren voor een

stagevergoeding en krijgen ze één dag

per week les op het STC. Wie het goed

doet, krijgt een aanstelling voor een

half jaar. Na een jaar hebben de jonge-

ren een MBO niveau 2 diploma in han-

den. De jongens die via het Jongeren-

loket binnenkomen, moeten eerst een

selectieprocedure door. Samen met

collega Claudia Strömberg beoordeelt

Frans de kandidaten. ‘Afwijzingen zijn

vaak niet vanwege gebrek aan motiva-

tie of kwaliteit, maar door de benodig-

de Verklaring Omtrent Gedrag. Voor

veel beroepen in de haven is het een

probleem als je vanwege drugs of poli-

tieke vergrijpen in aanraking met justi-

tie geweest bent. Doodzonde, want zo

kun je enthousiaste jongens die ooit

eens drie wietplanten op zolder hadden

staan niet aan een baan helpen.’

Verborgen talentenDe jongens die wel een kans krijgen

pakken die ook met beide handen aan.

Gemiddeld dwingt 70% een contract

af. ‘Er zit heel veel verborgen talent

tussen, je moet ze alleen wel een zetje

geven,’ zegt Claudia Strömberg. ‘In de

klas die we hier vorig jaar hadden wer-

den regelmatig negens en tienen ge-

haald.’ In september zijn er weer 25

jongens begonnen. Erik (20) en Leroy

(21) zijn twee van hen. Tot dusver be-

valt de combinatie van werk en leren

hen prima. Erik: ‘De collega’s zijn

vriendelijk. Net als bij ieder ander be-

drijf moet je natuurlijk wel meegaan

met de flow.’ Beiden hebben al veel

verschillende banen en opleidingen ge-

probeerd, ze herkennen het probleem

dat veel jongeren hebben om school of

werk te vinden. Erik: ‘Het is wel moei-

lijk, maar je moet er gewoon voor

vechten. Het komt echt niet zomaar uit

de lucht vallen.’ Leroy knikt instem-

mend: ‘Soms heb je ook je uiterlijk te-

gen, door tatoeages bijvoorbeeld. In de

haven is dat minder belangrijk, als je

maar goed bent in je werk.’ Een

boodschap voor jongeren zonder

school of werk hebben ze wel: ‘Maak

je school af, dan sta je sterker in de

maatschappij.’

Jongeren krijgen een kans in de haven

TV Veilig: aanranding en brandactie

TV Veilig wordt elke dinsdag uitge-

zonden om 17.35 uur op TV Rijn-

mond en wordt om het uur herhaald.

Bekijk de uitzendingen ook op

www.veilig.mediarotterdam.nl.

Akkoord van RotterdamZeker in tijden van crisis is het voor jongeren belangrijk om met een diploma

de arbeidsmarkt op te gaan. Gemeente, bedrijfsleven en onderwijs hebben

daarom de handen ineen geslagen. Met het Akkoord van Rotterdam wordt een

groot aantal maatregelen ingezet om de economische crisis te bestrijden. Dit

moet de stad de komende jaren zo’n 1.500 extra banen en 2.000 stage- en leer-

werkplaatsen opleveren. Kijk ook op: www.akkoordvanrotterdam.nl.

In de komende uitzending van TV Veilig onder meer aandacht voor eenaanranding en mishandeling van een jonge vrouw.

Fot

o:Ju

rn Q

uadt

Erik (links) en Leroy (rechts) bevalt het prima: vier dagen werken in de haven enéén dagje naar het Scheepvaart en Transport College.

In de Rijnhaven komt komendjaar een opvallend nieuw bouw-werk: een complex van drie drij-vende halve bollen. Het krijgteen hoogte van 12 meter, eentotaal vloeroppervlak van viertennisbanen en is in zijn geheelverplaatsbaar. De eerste vijf jaarzal het klimaatbestendige pavil-joen dienstdoen als expositie-en ontvangstruimte.

Wethouder Bolsius (Haven, Finan-

ciën, Buitenruimte en Organisatie) is

trots op de plannen: ‘Het paviljoen

wordt een nieuw drijvend icoon v oor

de stad, 't is klimaatbestendig, innova-

tief, duurzaam en flexibel. Een eerste

klinkend resultaat van onze ambities

op het gebied van drijvend bouwen.’

In het paviljoen komt naast een expo-

sitieruimte een ontvangstruimte, zegt

Bolsius. ‘En wellicht breiden we het

in de toekomst verder uit met nog

meer modules.’

Het paviljoen verenigt de Rotterdamse

doelen om de uitstoot van het broei-

kasgas CO2 te halveren en om de stad

ook in de toekomst klimaatbestendig

te houden. Het gebouw is door zijn

opvallende vorm zeer herkenbaar en

kan vanaf de Erasmusbrug gezien

worden. Het paviljoen zuivert zijn ei-

gen toiletwater. Wat er dan overblijft,

kan worden geloosd in het oppervlak-

tewater. Bijzonder is ook het folie

waarmee de koepels worden bekleed.

dit zogenaamde EFTE-folie is 100

keer lichter dan glas, wat het heel ge-

schikt maakt voor drijvende gebou-

wen. Het drijvend paviljoen is een

ontwerp van Deltasync/PublicDomain

Architecten en wordt gebouwd door

Dura Vermeer. Het zal worden opgele-

verd in mei 2010.

Drijvende stadswijkenHet drijvend paviljoen is het eerste re-

sultaat van Rotterdam Climate Proof

(onderdeel van Rotterdam Climate

Initiative) om klimaatbestendig te

bouwen in buitendijkse gebieden. De

gemeente heeft plannen voor het bou-

wen van drijvende stadswijken in het

Stadshavensgebien. Mensen zullen in

deze wijken op het water wonen,

boodschappen doen, werken en rec-

reëren.

Meer informatie en foto-impressies op

www.rotterdamclimateinitiative.nl.

Alle gemeenten in deRotterdamse stadsregio gaanéén risicosignaleringssysteemhanteren om problemen vanjongeren te signaleren. Op dezemanier kunnen hulpverlenerssneller ingrijpen en adequatehulp bieden.

Donderdag acht oktober onderteken-

den zestien gemeenten en twintig re-

gionale instellingen het SISA-conve-

nant. Dankzij de verwijsindex ‘SISA’,

wat staat voor Stadsregionaal Instru-

ment Sluitend Aanpak, blijven jonge-

ren beter in beeld en kunnen hulpver-

leners over de gemeentegrenzen heen

signaleren, informeren en activiteiten

op elkaar afstemmen.

Hele regioSISA is al sinds 1999 in Rotterdam

actief. In 2008 leverde dit ruim 2000

cases op waarbij intensief werd sa-

mengewerkt om adequate hulp te bie-

den aan kinderen en hun ouders. Nu

wordt deze samenwerking tot over de

gemeentegrenzen voortgezet: van Ba-

rendrecht tot Brielle en van Schiedam

tot Spijkenisse. ‘Om jongeren goed te

kunnen helpen, is een soepele samen-

werking noodzakelijk tussen alle par-

tijen in de jeugdketen. Het is belang-

rijk dat instanties en professionals

elkaar weten te vinden’, zo zegt de

Rotterdamse wethouder Peter Lamers,

tevens portefeuillehouder stadsregio-

nale jeugdzorg.

Ieder Kind WintDe samenwerking is een onderdeel

van het programma ‘Ieder Kind Wint’.

Dit programma brengt gemeenten en

instanties samen om de hulp en zorg

aan kinderen te verbeteren. Door pro-

blemen sneller te signaleren kan eer-

der worden ingegrepen en kan ook

sneller de juiste zorg aan kinderen

worden geboden.

Kijk voor meer informatie op

www.iederkindwint.nl.

Drijvend icoon voorde stad in Rijnhaven

Hulpverleners in stadsregioslaan handen ineen

Veel jongeren verlaten voortijdig een opleiding en hebben vaakmoeite om werk te vinden. REVIT geeft jongeren zonder startkwali-ficatie de kans om een carrière in de haven op te bouwen. Inmiddelshebben al meer dan 160 jongeren op deze manier de weg naar eenbaan gevonden. Een succesverhaal uit de haven.

Their concept for a Floating City is based on their housing project built on the IJmeer between Amsterdam and Almere in 2007. It won first prize in the Delta Competition, an international prize awarded by the engineering firm of Royal Haskoning for a sustainable solution to the prob-lems caused by climate change in densely populated areas. The Floating City is a futuristic-looking concept that represents sustainable, innovative urban development in densely popu-lated areas. It is adapted to climate change and presents various technologies for sustain-able living, which means that it not only offers solutions for the results of climate change but also for the causes. In an environmen-tally friendly manner, the Floating City will make use of both surface water and rainwater, as well as wind and sun energy. The water offers possibilities for

decentralized energy facilities. With the help of heat pumps, the surface water creates the heating and cooling functions. Deltasync is working with the Stichting Experimenten Volkshuisvesting (SEV) to supply clean drinking water and produce electricity and ‘self-sufficient, floating energy units’, for a certain number of the homes. Floating water homes in watery areas should be easy to link to similar energy facilities.

Shanghai World Expo

With its floating buildings, Deltasync wants to add a new dimension to the area of urban planning. “Building on water, with its multiple land use, offers not only extra capacity but also flexibility in the construction process,” notes Maarten Kuijper of Deltasync. “A floating home is easier to move than a building that is anchored to the ground.”

The plans not only call for homes to be built on a stable floating construction, but also roads, bridges, parking lots and even a complete football stadium. Kuijper explained, “By utilizing floating technolo-gies you remain flexible so that you can start out small and then easily add to that to produce a neighborhood, district or city.” As part of a pilot program for sustainable urban development, Deltasync developed a Floating Pavilion for the Shanghai World Expo 2010. The building, the floating VIP Haven, is, for the most part, self-sufficient, sustain-able and creates new space for the Shanghai metropolis. The design has a distinctive architec-tonic form. The pavilion consists of five bubble-shaped domes which house a large auditorium, a 3D-cinema, an exhibition space and a sky bar, situated on top of the highest sphere.

The design makes extensive use of advanced technologies in the areas of climate design, con-struction and recycling. “The sphere is a natural form with an optimal relationship between total surface area and volume, which delivers energy savings, creates an optimal interior climate and offers stability on the water. The cover of the interior sphere further enhances the desired effects,” Kuijper commented. After the World Expo the build-ing can easily be moved and reused. It may actually end up in Rotterdam’s Harbor district.

Rotterdam’s harbors

Rotterdam has the ambition to become the Clean Tech Delta of Europe. At the end of 2008, the city launched its plans for sus-tainable innovations and floating buildings, complete with an innovative Climate Campus, a

research institute dedicated to energy and water management. The city expects that the invest-ments will be paid back in full because people from all over the rest of the world are already requesting the increased knowl-edge and information. Large por-tions of the world’s people live in low-lying delta regions. The solutions to the problems this produces are big business indeed. Just like many other harbor cities, many businesses are moving out of the city’s harbor districts. The construction of the Tweede Maasvlakte at the mouth of the Maas has sent the trans-shipment companies and related industries further out to sea. This means more room for new homes and offices in these old harbor districts. The plans for 2025 call for the construction of some 5,000 new homes in an old harbor district area measuring some 16 square hectares.

The usual filling in of bodies of water, will instead make way for a floating neighborhood that will arise on the open waters of the Maas river, which has tides that vary about one-and-a-half meters between low and high tide and up to three meters depending on the wind. Because of the dynamic nature of the water, the placement of loose floating homes is not an option here. Larger floating surfaces offer more stability, however. Construction plans for the 2,000 to 3,000 homes to be built on a floating district in the Maashaven are to begin some time after 2010. Because Rotterdam wants to be the number one city in the construction of large-scale, float-ing buildings, some floating mounds will have to be realized before the end of 2009, which will be developed by Deltasync and will include an information center and a café, for instance. <<

The Kraanspoor that lies along Noordelijke IJ-oever wharf in

Amsterdam is already considered an outstanding architec-

tonic tour de force of building with water. This is not unlike

the situation in Rotterdam where industrial companies are

also making way for combined living and working situa-

tions. Crane Track was established in 1952 as a concrete

crane platform along a harbor pier. It was saved from demo-

lition in 1997 by designer Trude Hooykaas and OTH, an exte-

rior and interior architecture agency in Amsterdam, who

identified the structure’s potential for redevelopment and so

they designed a three-story, 12,500-m² glass office building

that appears to float on top of its old concrete base.

The building’s indoor climate is regulated by a double-skin façade with movable louvers and solar-

controlled glazing, whilst openings in the floor and a low-energy mechanical extraction system

provide ventilation. In the summer, Crane Track is cooled by water from the river below and, during

the colder months, the relatively warm water from the IJ is used to preheat the central heating

system. In 2008, The Crane Track won the MIPIM Green Building of the Year Award, the 2008 MIPIM

Special Jury award, the ULI European Award for Excellence and the Urban Land Institute’s (ULI)

Global Award for Excellence. The Award is acknowledged as the world’s most prestigious recognition

platform in the area of land use.

Het Kraanspoor

Deltasync developed a Floating Pavilion for the Shanghai World Expo 2010.

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deTECHNOLOGIEkrant2

Lezersservice de Technologiekrant0900 0401 357 (15 cent/min)

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Nederland bestaat voor ongeveer 18 % uit water. ‘Dat is een enorme oppervlakte die nu niet volledig wordt benut’, vindt ir. Bart Roeffen van DeltaSync. Volgens de bouw-kundig ingenieur is dat een gemiste kans, omdat ons land chronisch last heeft van een gebrek aan woonruim-te en tegelijkertijd al het water een plek moet zien te geven. De stijgende zeespiegel en de bodemdaling maken dit probleem alleen maar inge-wikkelder. ‘Om ook in de toekomst veilig te kunnen blijven wonen, is drijvend bouwen een mooie oplos-sing’, redeneert de creatief directeur van het jonge be-drijf uit Delft. In 2006 won Deltasync een prijsvraag van ingenieursbureau Royal Haskoning met het idee voor een drijvende stad, die niet simpelweg uit afzonderlijke waterwoningen zou bestaan, maar uit grote drijfelementen met plaats voor ongeveer zestig woningen.DeltaSync mag nu een proeve van bekwaamheid afleggen achter het terrein van de voormalige Rot-terdamse Droogdok Maatschappij. Hier bouwt het bedrijf een drijvend paviljoen: een tentoonstellings-ruimte, congresgebouw met verga-derzalen, auditorium en openbaar stadsplein in één. Volgens Roeffen is het de eerste keer dat zo’n groot gebouw van 24 bij 46 m op het wa-ter verrijst. Het stadsplein komt nog eens op een apart eiland van 24 bij 24 m. ‘Dit is de eerste stap naar een grotere drijvende stadsuitbreiding’, meent Roeffen. ‘Rotterdam wil zijn havens inrichten met drijvende ge-bouwen. In de Heijse haven aan de Maas doen we de eerste test om te kijken of dat idee levensvatbaar is.’De jonge ondernemers van het in 2006 opgerichte bedrijf zijn ver-plicht om hun twee eilanden met de wal te verbinden. Het stadsplein wordt zelfs verankerd aan twee

Drijvend bouwen is alternatief voor verstedelijking deltagebieden

Rotterdam op de Maas

meerpalen in het water, omdat het Nederlandse Bouwbesluit dezelfde regels aan waterwoningen stelt als aan huizen op het land. Over drie maanden moet het paviljoen al klaar zijn na amper een bouwproces van een jaar. Als het project in Rot-terdam succesvol uitpakt, dan wil DeltaSync ook het open water be-bouwen. Roeffen fantaseert al over een zelfvoorzienende stad met een eigen riolering, drinkwater, energie-voorziening en drijvende wegen.

PolderbaanMaar dr.ir. Jan van Kessel ziet een dergelijke stad niet zo snel in Ne-derland ontstaan. Hij promoveerde begin februari aan de TU Delft op een rekenmodel om grote drijvende constructies op zee te bouwen. ‘We zijn een baggerland dat niets liever dan land opspuit’, legt de scheeps-bouwkundig ingenieur uit, ‘en we zijn geneigd om een techniek te kiezen die we goed kennen.’ Toch onderzocht hij of de 3,8 km lange en 160 m brede Polderbaan, de langste landingsbaan van Schiphol,

ook drijvend kan worden uitgevoerd. Tot nu toe was zo’n lengte ondenkbaar, omdat de landings-baan doormidden zou breken door de kracht van de gol-ven op zee.

Van Kessel bedacht dat luchtkus-sens deze buiging wel eens zouden kunnen verminderen. De drijvende Polderbaan kreeg daarom de vorm van een omgekeerde schoenendoos, met wanden van 65 m lang die in het water lagen. De luchtkussens onder de 25 m dikke stalen bodem van de doos zorgen dan voor het drijfvermogen. Bovendien vangt de lucht in de kussens de golven in het water op, waardoor de druk op de landingsbaan constant blijft.De promovendus kreeg gelijk: met een luchtkussen blijkt het buigmo-ment 64 % kleiner. Toch is zo’n sta-len Polderbaan nog niet reëel. Vol-gens Van Kessels berekeningen gaat namelijk niet de baan zelf, maar de bodem onder de wanden scheuren. ‘Met meer staal, hoogtesterktestaal of een andere opstelling van de luchtkussens zou het wel haalbaar zijn’, denkt de kersverse promo-vendus, die inmiddels productont-wikkelaar is bij het offshorebedrijf GustoMSC in Schiedam, ‘maar ik heb alleen een rekenmodel gemaakt voor toekomstige constructies en

geen ontwerpen getest.’Luchtkussens blijken niet nodig in rustig water, zoals in Rotterdam, waar de buigmomenten met een normale constructie op te vangen zijn. Het systeem dat DeltaSync gebruikt is Flexbase, voortgekomen uit een samenwerking tussen Dura Vermeer en Unidek. EPS-blokken worden op het water met elkaar verbonden, zodat een drijvende werkvloer ontstaat. Na dit twee à drie lagen herhaald te hebben, komt vervolgens een laag met uitsparin-gen, zodat een grid ontstaat. Dit wordt volgestort met beton, omdat EPS alleen niet stevig genoeg is. Ten slotte komt aan de zijkanten een be-schermlaag van prefabbeton en aan de bovenkant een betonnen vloer.Het paviljoen, een geodetische koe-pelconstructie, wordt bekleed met twee à drie lagen ETFE-folie, een transparante dunne kunststof die in gewicht maar een honderdste weegt vergeleken met glas. Door tussen de lagen folie lucht te pompen ontstaat een waterdicht en isolerend geheel.Een drijvende stad is dus minder futuristisch dan op het eerste gezicht lijkt. Binnenkort wordt het paviljoen van DeltaSync op de World Expo 2010 in Shanghai gepresenteerd als mogelijke oplossing voor de toene-mende verstedelijking in kwetsbare deltagebieden, waar in 2030 de helft van de wereldbevolking woont.www.deltasync.nl

Bouwen op open water is de droom van DeltaSync, dat in mei een drijvend paviljoen in de Rot-terdamse haven oplevert. Dr.ir. Jan van Kessel, productontwik-kelaar bij GustoMSC, ziet nog niet zo snel drijvende steden ver-schijnen. ‘Maar met hoogtesterk-testaal en luchtkussens moet dat haalbaar zijn.’

- Desiree Hoving -

DHV SANITEERT 80STEDEN INDONESIËDHV en de Indonesische doch-ter PT MLD hebben een contract ondertekend voor de sanitatie van tachtig steden. Het ingeni-eursbureau gaat strategieën ont-wikkelen en ontwerpstudies opstellen voor de afvalwaterbe-handeling, ontwatering en ver-werking van huisvuil. DHV is ook betrokken bij de uitvoering. Het project is onderdeel van het Accelerated Sanitation Develop-ment Program van de Indonesi-sche overheid voor 330 steden, dat is begroot op ongeveer 3,7 miljard euro. Het contract levert DHV tien miljoen euro op.Volgens projectleider Jan Oo-men is de sanitatie hard nodig. ‘Indonesië kent rond de 230 mil-joen inwoners. Slechts 1 % daar-van is aangesloten op riolering en 4 % heeft geen betrouwbaar functionerend privé- of open-baar toilet tot zijn beschikking.’www.dhv.com

Slechts 1 % van de 230 miljoen inwoners van Indonesië is aan-gesloten op riolering.

SHELL GAAT INBIOBRANDSTOFFENShell heeft in principe een sa-menwerkingsovereenkomst gesloten met het Braziliaanse Cosan, een van de grootste pro-ducenten van biobrandstoffen ter wereld. Het olieconcern in-vesteert de komende jaren 1,2 miljard euro in de nieuwe on-derneming, waaronder ook de 2740 benzinestations van Shell vallen. De joint venture krijgt een marktaandeel van 9,3 % in de Braziliaanse ethanolmarkt.Cosan verwerkt rietsuiker tot ethanol, dat wordt gemengd met benzine. Shell wil biome-thanol uit de stengels halen, dat in tegenstelling tot suiker niet tot voedsel wordt verwerkt.www.shell.com

DeltaSync bouwt achter de voormalige Rotterdamse Droogdok Maatschappij een drijvend paviljoen.

Drijvende constructie op zee van dr.ir. Jan van Kessel.

In the Media

SUNDAYTIMESONLINE WW

For all the latest greenbusiness news go tothesundaytimes.co.uk/business

For Ellen and RobertStravers, living in afloating house is likebeing on a perma-nent holiday.

They live in an arc of 57floatinghomes, around an inletjust southeast of Amsterdam.A boat moored outside theirthree-storey house lets themsail into the city.“In the summer there is a

swimming club, and lastwinter people were skating,”said Robert, a retired pharma-cist, sitting at a long woodentable in the couple’s light, airyliving room.“About once amonth, there’s

a storm. The doors swing openand shut — I like that,” Robertsaid. But most of the time thehouse is perfectly stable.About 300water houses have

popped up in the Netherlandsin the past few years, mostlyalongside the tens of thousandsof houseboats that have been astaple of the country’s canalsystem for the past century. Itis estimated that another 2,000floating homes are likely to bebuilt over the next five years.With 40% of its land below

sea level, theNetherlands ispar-ticularly at risk from rising sealevels and growing populationsthat in the coming decadeswillcram a lot more people into alot less space that has an inc-reasing tendency to flood.A small group of evangelical

Dutch designers is convincedthat living on water canbecomea key component in thebattle against ever-rising tides.They are spreading their mes-

sage around the world andreckon that Britain, too, couldeventually have a number offloating settlements.“Initially, we want to extend

existing cities into the water,”said Bart Roeffen at Delta Sync,a specialist firm of architectsin Delft. “But my dream is torealise an entire floating city.The Maldives is slowly beingsubmerged and with this tech-nology we could make newislands and combine themwith artificial coral reefs.”Roeffen, 30, has just com-

pleted one of his biggest water-based projects to date, afloatingpavilionhe designed inthe Rijnhaven, a harbour nearthe centre of Rotterdam.The three-dome structure is

12 metres high with enoughfloorspace to cover four tenniscourts. It’s the biggest floatingbuilding in Holland so far, andis thought to be the biggest inthe world.The pavilion is an experi-

ment to address the engi-neering challenges involved inbuilding large floating struc-tures that don’t sink. It hasattracted architects fromacrossthe world who want to followHolland’s lead.It is based on the geodesic

structure popularised by theAmerican engineer RichardBuckminster Fuller and com-prises a series of interlockinghexagons that distribute thestresses across the structure.The lightweight base of

expanded polystyrene is re-inforced with concrete beamsmade buoyant by tiny air-per-

meated cells and is topped offwith a layer of pure concrete.The technology is develop-

ing and allowing architects toget more ambitious with theirplans.Koen Olthuis, chief architect

at Waterstudio, based inRijswijk, a small town in theprovince of South Holland, isworking on plans for a floatinggolf course and a floatingmosque in the Maldives. He isalso developing a city for120,000 people in southernChina. About a quarter of thepopulation will be housed infloating buildings,making it byfar the biggest floating buildingproject to date.Back home, Olthuis is plan-

ning a 2,500metre by 500metrefloating complex in South Hol-land, in which half the build-ings will float and the rest willbe built on stilts or artificialislands. At the centre of thecomplexwill be the Citadel, theworld’s first floating apartmentblock, with 60 luxury flats, acar park and a floating road tothe land.“The reason it’s half and half

is to do with perception,” saidOlthuis, who recently pub-lished Float, a book aboutwater-based architecture.“To a Dutch guy, a floating

housemeans a houseboat lyingon the canals of Amsterdam.But if they see a combination,they see there is no differencebetween a building on land or abuilding on water and so theyare happy tomove in,” he said.“You have to stay close to the

normal concept people have ofa city.Nobodybelieves ina float-ing city in the middle of theocean,” added Olthuis, whothinks the Chinese city andfloating complex assignmentsmark the “beginning of a newera” for water architecture.There are no floating build-

ings in Britain, although thereareahandful of boat-basedcom-munities, one of the largest ofwhich is the Downings RoadsMoorings on the Thames, 400metres east of Tower Bridge.Nicholas Lacey, an architect

who set up the 100-person,40-vessel community of house-boats and garden barges,thinks there is a place forfloating buildings in Britain.“Many bits ofwater are suitablefor floating structures and itmakes economic sense becausethey can be cost-effective.There is scope for large scalefloating structures in parts ofLondonDocklands,” he said.In a report this year, a

steering group comprising toparchitects, civil engineers, citydesigners, planners, devel-opers, policymakers, ecologistsand futurologists went muchfurther about the need forBritain to gear up architec-turally to combat rising sealevels, increasingly frequentand intense storms, a growingpopulation, and the fact thatthe south of England is slowlysinking.In the Facing Up to Rising

Sea Levels report, Ruth Reed,president of the Royal Instituteof British Architects (RIBA),declared these conditionsposed an “extreme threat” and

warned that we needed to actnow to avoid the certainty of“mass disruption” to ourcoastal communities.The report identifies Ports-

mouthandHull—25miles fromthe North Sea and bisected bytheRiverHull—asbeingpoten-tially the greatest beneficiariesof floating buildings.For Hull, the report suggests

that a network of static plat-forms and floating structurescould be built on the riveraround a decommissionedNorth Sea oil rig and old navyvessels to produce amix of resi-dential, recreational and com-mercial sites.For Portsmouth, a series of

interconnected piers—hostinghouses, companies and recre-ational spaces — could be usedas a framework for additionalclusters of floating communi-ties in the sheltered waters ofthe local harbours.“Liverpool, Glasgow, Lowes-

toft, a lot of East Anglia — largeparts of Britain could benefitfrom floating architecture,”said Dickon Robinson,chairman of Building Futures,a RIBA think tank, and aformer development director atPeabodyTrust, London’s largesthousing association.Britain’s floating architec-

ture enthusiasts know they

have an uphill task to persuadethe many stakeholders — suchas investors, local authoritiesand property developers — towork more closely and toincrease their planninghorizon from about 15 years tomore like 100 years.Caroline Spelman, the envi-

ronment secretary, said that atpresent Britain had no plans topromote floating buildings,but added that “we are alwaysinterested to see what othercountries are looking at to pre-pare themselves for climatechange”.Britain is clearly not ready

for this revolution, but advo-cates of floating architecturehope that, by drawing atten-tion to future problems and thepart thatwater-based buildingscan play in the solution, theyhavemade a valuable start.Ultimately it boils down to

consumer demand, which isexpected to change slowly asland fills up, floods becomeincreasingly common, floatingarchitecture develops andpeople get used to the idea.

GREEN PIONEERS

‘‘

Graham Cooley ischief executive ofhydrogen fuellingfirm ITM Power.By Ben Marlow

Floating basePolystyrene constructionguarantees buoyancy

Heat from the riverEnergy is extracted from riverwater using heat pumps

CoolingHeat from the sun isabsorbed by solar collectors

Lightweight materialsThe dome facade is madeof lightweight, durable foil

Vegetaton wallPlants help regulate humidityand aid noise insulation

made is facade dome Thefoil durable lightweight, of foil durable lightweight, of

Waste treatmentReclaimed water from filtrationsystem is used for toilets

Riding the tideDutch architects have designed a newgeneration of floating buildings

Microclimate conceptTemperatures can be changed andregulated between the domes

Robert and Ellen Stravers, picturedwith their daughter Mijke, live in a

floating home near Amsterdam

THE plains of southernSpain provide a cautionarytale for Britain’s burgeoninglow-carbon industry.Spain is the largest solar

power producer in theworld thanks to a generoustariff regime set by thegovernment years ago,when the economywasbooming.With the recession, the

government has pushedthrough a series ofunpopularmeasures. Thelatest, due to be passed inthe next few days, is adrastic cut in solar payouts.Investors, who stand to losehundreds ofmillions, arefurious.The Spanish subsidies

are not unique. ThismonththeUK governmentintroduced a package ofsubsidies that it sayswillfuel a £200 billion “green”makeover of the powersystem.All of thesemeasures

have been taken against thebackdrop of bindingpollution reduction targets,whichwere enshrined intheUnited Nations’ KyotoProtocol. Theseweresupposed to be renewed lastyear at the Copenhagenclimate conference. Afterthose talks disappointed,hopes shifted to the latesttalks, held at the start of

thismonth in Cancun,Mexico. Those, too, failed todeliver. The Kyotoagreement lapses at the endof 2012.The Cancun failure has

led some countries toquestion thewisdomofpushing aheadwith costly,taxpayer-funded greenprogrammes,while othersremain on the sidelines.Critically, neither

America nor China, whichtogether account fortwo-thirds of greenhousegas emissions, aresignatories to Kyoto andboth face fierce domesticopposition to signing up toa successor deal.The impasse has led big

polluters in Britain andEurope towarn of “carbonleakage”, where companiesmove to jurisdictionsunburdened by the added

costs of complyingwithemissions rules.Mark Lewis, a carbon

analyst at Deutsche Bank,said: “We do not see anyprospect of a secondinternational commitmentperiod being in place byJanuary 1, 2013. Indeed, wethink it is now likely to takesome years for a new legallybinding global deal to benegotiated.”That is likely to slow the

progress of the conversionto new low-carbon forms ofenergy such aswind,biomass and solar. Lewisadded: “We do not thinktherewill be sufficientappetite among EuropeanUnionmember states forraising the EU’s 2020emissions-reduction targetto 30% [as previouslyproposed] over the next 12months.”Which brings us back to

the Spanish situation.Every form of low-carbonpower ismore expensivethan dirty fossil-fuel plants.Thus governments aroundEurope,which has led theway by putting in placetough targets and penaltiesif they aremissed, haveintroduced subsidies toconvince firms to invest inexpensive newplants.Offshorewind power, for

example, costs three timesasmuch as a gas-fired plantcapable of producing thesame amount of electricity.Yetwith the global

climate deal sputtering, thedanger for investors is thattheymay plough billionsinto an industry propped upby public subsidies that, ifthe situation requires, canlater be pulled.That is the lesson

investors in Spain’s solarmarket now face.Therewas one silver

lining at Cancun forBritain’s green investors.One of the few deals thatwas agreed therewill seethe creation of a $100 billionsuperfund to transferlow-carbon technologies todeveloping countries.Last year the British

government predicted thatthe green revolutionwouldproduce 400,000 jobs andhelp lead the country out ofrecession. So far, few of thepromised jobs havematerialised.A formalised fund to

funnel green technologyand industry abroadwouldcertainly help.Not surprisingly, there is

still a way to go before itbecomes reality.MichaelWilkins, at

Standard & Poor’s, thecredit rating agency, said:“We understand that thesource of these funds hasstill not been determined.Equally unclear is themethod bywhich to engageprivate sector finance on alarge scale, especiallyinstitutional investors.”The next round of

climate talkswill take placein Durban, South Africa,late next year.

Beat the floods, builda house on the water

We can clean up with hydrogen

Greenhousestand-offhits investors

WE DO NOT SEEANY PROSPECTOF A SECONDINTERNATIONALCOMMITMENTBY 2013

IT looks like a giant walk-in fridgefreezer, the kind you see in televisionprogrammes where celebrity chefsuncover crimes against food hygiene.Only a hose protruding from the side

of the container provides a clue. The 20ftby 8ft metal box sitting in the car parkcould one day produce the car fuel thatwill replace petrol. That is the claim ofITM Power, the firm behind HFuel, arefuelling unit that produces hydrogento power vehicles.“Hydrogen power is completely

clean. It’s the green fuel of the future,”said GrahamCooley, chief executive. Hebelieves it can solve one of the biggestproblems with renewable energy — youcannot control when it is available.“Renewables are so intermittent. The

windmaybloweverywhere in themiddleof the night, making lots of power, butyou may not need it. We are addingvalue to renewables,” Cooley said.

ITM Power proposes using electricityfrom renewable sources to makehydrogen. This is done by an electro-lyser that splits water into hydrogen gasand oxygen gas.Cooley said hydrogen is one of the

cleanestways to power a car because theonly waste product is water vapour thatis so pure it can be drunk. With suffi-cient government backing and subsi-dies, he believes that it could one dayrival oil and other fossil fuels.ITM Power was founded in 2000 by

Donald Highgate, a scientist who hadbeen studying how to make softer con-tact lenses. His expertise in polymerchemistry led to the low-cost mem-brane that goes into the ITM electro-lyser. Highgate floated the company in2004 but recently left.ITM plans to target the commercial

vehicle market first, as such transportusually returns to base. At the moment,there are no refuelling stations.Nextyear, 20 partners including Stan-

sted airport, RAC and Center Parcs, will

test two of ITM’s vans and one mobilefuelling unit for a week. Cooley hopes itwill convince companies with largefleets that hydrogen-powered vehiclesare commercially viable. “We wantthem to understand you don’t need todrive around using petrol,” Cooley said.He said hydrogen-powered vehicles

should be able to travel about 200 miles.At that point, using ITM’s technology,the engine can be switched to run onpetrol. Refuelling time is five minutes,against five hourswith electric vehicles.ITM’s biggest barrier to success will

be making hydrogen systems, and thefuel itself, price competitivewith petrol.At the moment, that is some way off.Critics say that splitting water intohydrogen and oxygen requires vastamounts of energyandwill never be eco-nomically feasible.“One of our greatest challenges is get-

ting people to adopt this technology,”Cooley said. ITM has plans to crack thecar market by using “home refuellers”.However, it will be a while beforehydrogen cars are common in Britain.“In Germany, the government has

embraced hydrogen and is buying 1,000refuelling stations. There just isn’t theinfrastructure in Britain,” Cooley said.The company’s financial losses

recently increased but Cooley,whohas acorporate background, was appointedlast year to make ITM profitable. If hecan succeed, the seemingly endlesssupply of clean energywould have hugebenefits for the environment and cli-mate change.

Danny Fortson

Dutch architects are trying todrum up interest in buoyanthomes, reports Tom Bawden

Graham Cooley says that hydrogen is ‘the green fuel of the future’

To register your businessgo to thesundaytimes.co.uk/bestgreencompanies

THEPLACE FORTHEGREENTOBESEENTHEPLACE FORTHEGREENTOBESEEN

BUT ENTRIESARE OPEN FORTHE SUNDAYTIMES GREENLIST 2011

AGREENWORLDMIGHTSEEMLIKEADISTANTMEMORY.. .

ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT thesundaytimes.co.uk/environment 26.12.10 7

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For Ellen and RobertStravers, living in afloating house is likebeing on a perma-nent holiday.

They live in an arc of 57floatinghomes, around an inletjust southeast of Amsterdam.A boat moored outside theirthree-storey house lets themsail into the city.“In the summer there is a

swimming club, and lastwinter people were skating,”said Robert, a retired pharma-cist, sitting at a long wooden

sage around the world andreckon that Britain, too, couldeventually have a number offloating settlements.“Initially, we want to extend

existing cities into the water,”said Bart Roeffen at Delta Sync,a specialist firm of architectsin Delft. “But my dream is torealise an entire floating city.The Maldives is slowly beingsubmerged and with this tech-nology we could make newislands and combine themwith artificial coral reefs.”Roeffen, 30, has just com-

Rijswijk, a small town in theprovince of South Holland, isworking on plans for a floatinga floatinga fgolf course and a floatingmosque in the Maldives. He isalso developing a city for120,000 people in southernChina. About a quarter of thepopulation will be housed infloating buildings,making it byfar the biggest floating buildingproject to date.Back home, Olthuis is plan-

ning a 2,500metre by 500metrefloating complex in South Hol-land, in which half the build-

40-vessel community of house-boats and garden barges,thinks there is a place forfloating buildings in Britain.“Many bits ofwater are suitablefor floating structures and itmakes economic sense becausethey can be cost-effective.There is scope for large scalefloating structures in parts ofLondonDocklands,” he said.In a report this year, a

steering group comprising toparchitects, civil engineers, citydesigners, planners, devel-opers, policymakers, ecologists

tially the greatest beneficiariesof floating buildings.For Hull, the report suggests

that a network of static plat-forms and floating structurescould be built on the riveraround a decommissionedNorth Sea oil rig and old navyvessels to produce amix of resi-dential, recreational and com-mercial sites.For Portsmouth, a series of

interconnected piers—hostinghouses, companies and recre-ational spaces — could be usedas a frameworka frameworka f for additional

Caroline Spelman, the envi-ronment secretary, said that atpresent Britain had no plans topromote floating buildings,but added that “we are alwaysinterested to see what othercountries are looking at to pre-pare themselves for climatechange”.Britain is clearly not ready

for this revolution, but advo-cates of floatingf floatingf f architecturehope that, by drawing atten-tion to future problems and thepart thatwater-based buildingscan play in the solution, they

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directeur van het jonge bedrijf uit Delft. In 2006 won Deltasync een prijsvraag van ingenieursbureau Royal Haskoning met het idee voor een drijvende stad, die niet simpelweg uit afzonderlijke waterwoningen zou bestaan, maar uit grote drijfelementen met plaats voor ongeveer zestig woningen.DeltaSync mag nu een proeve van bekwaamheid afleggen achter het terrein van de voormalige Rot-terdamse Droogdok Maatschappij. Hier bouwt het bedrijf een drijvend paviljoen: een tentoonstellings-ruimte, congresgebouw met verga-derzalen, auditorium en openbaar stadsplein in één. Volgens Roeffen is het de eerste keer dat zo’n groot gebouw van 24 bij 46 m op het wa-ter verrijst. Het stadsplein komt nog eens op een apart eiland van 24 bij 24 m. ‘Dit is de eerste stap naar een grotere drijvende stadsuitbreiding’, meent Roeffen. ‘Rotterdam wil zijn havens inrichten met drijvende ge-bouwen. In de Heijse haven aan de Maas doen we de eerste test om te kijken of dat idee levensvatbaar is.’kijken of dat idee levensvatbaar is.’De jonge ondernemers van het in 2006 opgerichte bedrijf zijn ver-2006 opgerichte bedrijf zijn ver-2006 opgerichte bedrijf zijn verplicht om hun twee eilanden met de wal te verbinden. Het stadsplein wordt zelfs verankerd aan twee wordt zelfs verankerd aan twee

meerpalen in het water, omdat het Nederlandse Bouwbesluit dezelfde regels aan waterwoningen stelt als aan huizen op het land. Over drie maanden moet het paviljoen al klaar zijn na amper een bouwproces van een jaar. Als het project in Rot-terdam succesvol uitpakt, dan wil DeltaSync ook het open water be-bouwen. Roeffen fantaseert al over een zelfvoorzienende stad met een eigen riolering, drinkwater, energie-voorziening en drijvende wegen.

PolderbaanMaar dr.ir. Jan van Kessel ziet een dergelijke stad niet zo snel in Ne-derland ontstaan. Hij promoveerde begin februari aan de TU Delft op een rekenmodel om grote drijvende constructies op zee te bouwen. ‘We zijn een baggerland dat niets liever dan land opspuit’, legt de scheeps-bouwkundig ingenieur uit, ‘en we bouwkundig ingenieur uit, ‘en we zijn geneigd om een techniek te kiezen die we goed kennen.’ Toch onderzocht hij of de 3,8 km lange en 160 m brede Polderbaan, de langste landingsbaan van Schiphol, langste landingsbaan van Schiphol,

lengte ondenkbaar, omdat de landings-baan doormidden zou breken door de kracht van de gol-ven op zee.

Van Kessel bedacht dat luchtkus-sens deze buiging wel eens zouden kunnen verminderen. De drijvende Polderbaan kreeg daarom de vorm van een omgekeerde schoenendoos, met wanden van 65 m lang die in het water lagen. De luchtkussens onder de 25 m dikke stalen bodem van de doos zorgen dan voor het drijfvermogen. Bovendien vangt de lucht in de kussens de golven in het water op, waardoor de druk op de landingsbaan constant blijft.De promovendus kreeg gelijk: met een luchtkussen blijkt het buigmo-ment 64 % kleiner. Toch is zo’n sta-len Polderbaan nog niet reëel. Vol-gens Van Kessels berekeningen gaat namelijk niet de baan zelf, maar de bodem onder de wanden scheuren. ‘Met meer staal, hoogtesterktestaal of een andere opstelling van de luchtkussens zou het wel haalbaar zijn’, denkt de kersverse promozijn’, denkt de kersverse promo-vendus, die inmiddels productont-wikkelaar is bij het offshorebedrijf GustoMSC in Schiedam, ‘maar ik heb alleen een rekenmodel gemaakt voor toekomstige constructies en voor toekomstige constructies en

Slechts 1 % van de 230 miljoen inwoners van Indonesië is aan-gesloten op riolering.

SHELL GAAT INBIOBRANDSTOFFENShell heeft in principe een sa-menwerkingsovereenkomst gesloten met het Braziliaanse Cosan, een van de grootste pro-ducenten van biobrandstoffen ter wereld. Het olieconcern in-vesteert de komende jaren 1,2 miljard euro in de nieuwe on-derneming, waaronder ook de 2740 benzinestations van Shell vallen. De joint venture krijgt een marktaandeel van 9,3 % in de Braziliaanse ethanolmarkt.Cosan verwerkt rietsuiker tot ethanol, dat wordt gemengd met benzine. Shell wil biome-thanol uit de stengels halen, dat in tegenstelling tot suiker niet tot voedsel wordt verwerkt.www.shell.com

Drijvende constructie op zee van dr.ir. Jan van Kessel.

27

For additional information,

please contact:

DeltaSync BV

Molengraaffsingel 12-14

2629 JD Delft

The Netherlands

T +31 (0)15 256 1872

F +31 (0)15 744 0102

E info@deltasync.nl

Contact