Amsterdam

BIG and Barcode Architects have designed a mixed-use project for a lake in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, that will include zero-energy residences and be accessible by boat, car, and foot. The design brings to mind BIG's Via 57 West, in the way it riffs on the classic European courtyard building.

Autonomous cars aren't the only vehicles being freed from the shackles of human control. In what is billed as the world's first research program on autonomous floating vessels in metropolitan areas, autonomous boats will soon be deployed in the winding canals of Amsterdam, Netherlands.

For dedicated gamers, the thought of leaving their cherished consoles behind while traveling can be enough to spark separation anxiety. The owners of a new hotel in Amsterdam have recognized this, with their aptly named Arcade Hotel offering in-room consoles and video game rental for guests. ​

A new hotel in Amsterdam, Netherlands, offers keyless room entry and what it claims is the city’s first rooftop pool. W Amsterdam, part of the trendy W Hotels chain, also offers "Whatever/Whenever service." It promises to try and deliver whatever guests request to their room – as long as it's legal.

Taiwanese firm Gogoro is set to bring its electric two-wheelers to European streets, today announcing it will implement its battery-swapping Smartscooter network in Amsterdam in 2016 following a successful launch in Taipei earlier this year.

Amsterdam is to become home to three terraced, cliff-like towers dripping with greenery. Envisaged by architects MVRDV, the Ravel Plaza design won a competition for the development of a plot in the Zuidas Business District area of the city. It will house offices, residences and amenities.

Tiny houses tend to be highly functional and efficient. The shelters at an exhibition in Amsterdam, however, focus less on functionality and more on artistic license. UrbanCampsite Amsterdam features a host of "extraordinary sleeping accommodations" in an "exciting landscape."

3D printing R&D firm MX3D is planning to print a bridge across a canal in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. It is hoped that the robots used will print their own supports and gradually move across the water, creating the bridge as they go.

The winner of a tender for a major new hotel development in Amsterdam has been announced. It will be based at the Amsterdam RAI exhibition and conference center. Designed by OMA, the Nhow Amsterdam RAI hotel is designed to be an attraction in itself and will have a striking twisted design.

Netherlands-based firm i29 recently transformed the interior of an existing tower on the roof of Amsterdam's historic De Bijenkorf department store into a novel artistic space. The project is dubbed Room on a Roof and indeed comprises just one room.

Visitors to Amsterdam at the moment better have nerves of steel. A ghost ship has been spotted moored on one of the city's famous canals. There's no need to be scared, though. The spooky apparition has been created with some clever visual trickery, as part of the Amsterdam Light Festival.

Deloitte's new corporate headquarters in Amsterdam has been certified as the most sustainable office building in the world by BREEAM. The Edge was awarded an "Outstanding" rating with the highest ever BREEAM score of 98.36 percent. It takes the title from One Embankment Place in London.