FLOATING ARCHITECTURE

VERY LARGE FLOATING STRUCTURES

[VLFS]

SAKSHI INGALE
T.Y.D
• Success comes to life when practical knowledge is inculcated in once life.
Research Paper is like a bridge between theoretical and practical working.
• I am honour-bound to express my gratitude to the BNCA, Pune for giving me
an opportunity to study in this prestigious institute.
• I genuinely express my profound thanks to my mentor Smita Ogale Ma’am for
her patience, insightful comments, valuable suggestions, helpful information
and unceasing ideas which have helped me tremendously all time I my
research and writing this paper. Her knowledge and experience has helped me
complete my research paper. I am grateful to her for her time and precious
guidance in improving my writing skills.
• Finally I thank all the unnamed who have helped me in various ways to
accomplish this paper.
• Thank You.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT
• This paper attempts to discuss very large floating structures (VLFS) that have
been gradually appearing in the waters of developed coastal cities (and
countries with coastlines).
• Their presence is largely due to a severe shortage of land and the skyrocketing
land costs in recent times.
• After providing a description of a VLFS and highlighting its advantages (under
certain conditions) over the traditional land reclamation in creating space from
the sea, this paper will document the present and future applications of VLFS
and discuss the building typologies/activities are happening. [E. Watang, C.M.
Wang, 2004]
• KEYWORDS: floating structures, land reclamation, airports, bridges.

ABSTRACT
ABSTRACT-
• To study the FLOATING ARCHITECTURE – VERY LARGE FLOATING
STRUCTURES
• Their advantages , history, applications and their further use.
INTRODUCTION-
• Introduction to VLFS.
BODY-
• Development of VLFS.
CONCLUSION-
• This paper helps the architects and civil engineers to improve their
understanding of VLFS and its implementations in their designs.

STRUCTURE
Very large floating structures (VLFSs) or, as some literature refers to them, very
large floating platforms (VLFPs) can be constructed to create floating airports,
bridges, breakwaters, piers and docks, storage facilities (for oil & natural gas),
wind and solar power plants, for military purposes, to create industrial space,
emergency bases, entertainment facilities (such as casinos), recreation parks,
mobile offshore structures and even for habitation. Currently, different concepts
have been proposed for building floating cities or huge living complexes.

WHAT ARE VLFS ?

• They are cost effective when the water depth is large.
• Environmental friendly as they do not damage the marine eco-system, or silt-
up deep harbours or disrupt the tidal/ocean currents.
• They are easy and fast to construct and therefore sea-space can be speedily
exploited.
• They can be easily removed or expanded.
• The facilities and structures on Mega-Floats are protected from seismic shocks
since they are inherently base isolated.
• Their positions with respect to the water surface are constant and thus
facilitate small boats and ship to come alongside when used as piers and
berths.
• Their location in coastal waters provide scenic body of water all around,
making them suitable for developments associated with leisure and water
sport activities.
ADVANTAGES OF VLFS
1950s Floating city concepts in architecture and urban design
1973– 1974 Proposal of floating airport for Kansai International Airport phase-1, semi-
submersible-type floating structure
1975 Okinawa International Ocean Exhibition
1994 Proposal of floating runway for Kansai International Airport phase 2
construction, pontoon-type floating structure
1995 Foundation of Technological Research Association of Mega float (TRAM)

1995–1996 TRAM phase1 experiment 300m x 60m

1996 Shirashima oil stockpile 397m x 82m x 25.1m x 8 units

1997–2001 TRAM phase 2 experiment 1000m x 60–120m Landing & take-off experiment

2001 R&D by shipbuilding research centre

DEVELOPMENT OF VLFS IN JAPAN

• FLOATING BRIDGES:
• King Xerxes of Persia led his army across the Hellespont, now called the
Dardanelles, using two rows of floating bridges, each consisting of about 300
boats laid side by side as shown below.

King Xerxes’ Floating Boat Bridge across the Hellespont Hood Canal Floating Bridge, USA

• Other floating bridges include Seattle’s three Lake Washington Bridges, i.e. (i)
the 2310-m long Evergreen Point Bridge completed in 1963, and (ii) the 1988-
m long Hood Canal Bridge built in 1963.

FROM EARLY TO FUTURE APPLICATIONS OF VLFS

• More recent floating bridges built from 1990s include the two famous
Norwegian floating bridges: 845-m long Bergsoysund Floating Bridge built in
1992 near Kristiansund over a fjord depth of 320 m and the 1246-m long
Nordhordland Floating Bridge built in 1994 at Salhus over a fjord depth of 500
m.

Yumemai Bridge, Japan Nordhordland Floating Bridge, Norway

• An outstanding floating bridge that was built at the turn of the millennium is
the 410-m long Yumemai Bridge. The bridge is constructed across a water
channel, and it floats on two hollow steel pontoons (each of dimensions 58 m x
58 m x 8 m).

FROM EARLY TO FUTURE APPLICATIONS OF VLFS

FLOATING ENTERTAINMENT FACILITIES:
• There is a very large Floating Island (130 m x 40 m x 5 m) at Onomichi,
Hiroshima. Designed to resemble the Parthenon of Greece, this amusement
facility has a 3D visual image theatre, an aquarium and a marina.

Floating Restaurant Onomichi,Japan Floating Island Yokohama, Japan

• In 1991, Japan built a floating restaurant (on a 24 m x 24 m x 3.2 m pontoon) in

Yokohoma. The pier, next to the restaurant, is also a floating structure. Very
large floating structures are also used as fishing piers. For example, the 101.5
m x 60 m x 3 m floating fishing pier at Awaji Island.
FROM EARLY TO FUTURE APPLICATIONS OF VLFS
FLOATING AIRPORTS:
With vast improvements in technology having been made, a floating airport was
proposed for the new Kansai International Airport in Japan in 1973. Although the
initial phase was not built as a floating structure, interest in the concept remains
strong. This is perhaps the area of VLFS research that has received the most
attention, due in large part to the efforts of the Technological Research
Association of Mega-Float (TRAM) active in Japan from 1995 to 2001. This
association studied the fundamental design and construction needs for a floating
airport to be realised.

Kansai Airport, Japan

FROM EARLY TO FUTURE APPLICATIONS OF VLFS

FLOATING CITIES:
Perhaps in this 21st Century, floating cities may become a reality with the
advancing technology in construction and the shortage of land. Architects and
engineers have already made design sketches of how such floating cities could
look like. The pictures below show artist impressions of some floating cities that
are proposed by various Japanese corporations.

Marine Uranus by Nishimatsu Corporation Pearl Shell by Shimizu Corporation

FROM EARLY TO FUTURE APPLICATIONS OF VLFS

• Hotel Haegumgang, the first Australian floating hotel. The floating hotel
project on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) illustrates a unique combination of
engineering, environmental and entrepreneurial approaches to tourism
development in a coral reef environment. With rapidly burgeoning demand for
offshore tourism facilities.
• Built by Consafe Engineering in Singapore, the floating hotel consisted of a 5-
storey self-contained floating building, containing 140 double rooms and 34
luxury suites. Floating pontoons adjacent to the main structure served as
walkways, and contained moorings, swimming pool and tennis courts. John
Brewer Reef is an almost entirely closed, circular reef with a narrow opening
60 m wide on its northern side.
• The floating hotel was towed through this opening (after some obstructing
coral bommies were removed) and fixed in the lagoon using a single-point
mooring system capable of withstanding a 100-year cyclone.

CASE STUDY - THE AUSTRALIAN FLOATING HOTEL

PROJECT SPECIFICATIONS OF THE FLOATING HOTEL:

• Length -89.2 m
• Width - 27.6 m
• Height from sea level -24.2 m
• Draught - 3.0 m
• Freeboard - 3.0 m
• Ballast capacity - 4000 t
• Fuel oil capacity - 200 t
• Potable water supply - 150 t/day
• Generating capacity - 2300 kW
• Guest accommodation - 356
• Staff - 98

CASE STUDY - THE AUSTRALIAN FLOATING HOTEL

• THE FLOATING ECOPOLIS, otherwise known as
the Lilypad, is a model designed by Belgian
architect Vincent Callebaut. The Lilypad is a
concept for a completely self-sufficient floating city
intended to provide shelter for future climate
change refugees.
• The intent of the concept itself is laudable, but it is
Callebaut’s phenomenal design that has captured
our imagination. Biomimicry was clearly the ECOPOLIS, View
inspiration behind the design.
• The Lilypad, which was designed to look like a
waterlily, is intended to be a zero emission city
afloat in the ocean. Through a number of
technologies (solar, wind, tidal, biomass), it is
envisioned that the project would be able to not
only produce it’s own energy, but be able to
process CO2 in the atmosphere and absorb it into ECOPOLIS, Inspiration
its titanium dioxide skin.
CASE STUDY - THE FLOATING ECOPOLIS
• Very Large Floating Structure (VLFS) is a unique concept of ocean structures primary
because of their unprecedented length, displacement cost and associated hydro-
elastic response. VLFS requires massive investment of resources and is considered a
megaproject.
• Technology utilized in the project must be well proven or reliable to reduce risk of
investment. VLFS has little or no history of performance. Researchers and engineers
have improved their understanding of hydro-elastic response and its
implementation in the design method. Detailed and concentrated efforts were
undertaken in the MOB and Mega-Float projects.
• It is hoped that this report will create an awareness and interest in architects and civil
engineers on the subject of very large floating structures and to exploit their special
characteristics in conditions that are favourable for their applications.

CONCLUSION
• https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877705811010848
• https://www.researchgate.net/publication/43333468_The_Australian_floating_hotel_
project_-_a_retrospective_analysis
• https://www.academia.edu/23926552/Overview_of_Megafloat_Concept_design_crit
eria_Hideyuki_Suzuki
• https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1877705811010848
• https://www.researchgate.net/publication/300021699_Floating_Performance_Stage_
at_the_Marina_Bay_Singapore
• https://www.academia.edu/8449858/A_STUDY_ON_VERY_LARGE_FLOATING_STR
UCTURES
• https://www.tripsavvy.com/japans-floating-airports-3961623
• https://archinect.com/features/article/76244/showcase-lilypad-a-floating-ecopolis-
for-ecological-refugees
• https://archello.com/project/lilypad-a-floating-ecopolis-for-climatical-refugees

REFRENCES