We recently reported on a planned timber skyscraper in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and now another impressive sustainable project is coming to the city too, courtesy of Powerhouse Company. Floating Office Rotterdam (FOR) is a green-roofed, solar-powered office-on-the-water that's due to begin construction soon.
FOR will be located in Rotterdam's Rijnhaven port and will serve as a new headquarters for the Global Center on Adaptation, which aims to prepare communities, cities and countries for the disruptive effects of climate change. Its commission is led by former UN-Chairman Ban Ki-moon, Bill Gates, and Managing Director of the IMF, Kristalina Georgieva.
The floating building will be prefabricated and made primarily from wood. It will consist of three floors which will have overhanging roofs to create shade for its generous glazing. In addition to the offices, the building will also host a restaurant with a large outdoor terrace and a swimming pool.
FOR's roof will be partially covered in greenery, with the rest taken up by solar panels. It will also have a heat exchanger system that makes use of the harbor water as a heat sink to offer efficient heating and cooling, much like BIG's Urban Rigger in Copenhagen.
"Designing a sustainable, floating office building was a very challenging commission and we approached it in an integrated way," says Nanne de Ru, Powerhouse Company founder and architect. "By using the water of the Rijnhaven to cool the building, and by using the roof of the office as a large energy source, the building is truly autarkic [self-sufficient]. The building structure is designed in wood, it can easily be demounted and re-used. The building is ready for the circular economy."
FOR is expected to begin construction in the next couple of months and officially opened by the Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and the Mayor of Rotterdam in late 2020, which is an impressively short build time. It will remain in use for 5 to 10 years, after which time it may host another tenant or be moved to another location, depending on requirements.
Source: Powerhouse Company