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This futuristic floating resort could be built using tons of recycled ocean plastic
Celebrating its novel notion of repurposing what amounts to mounds of recycled ocean trash, a new floating resort is being proposed that looks like something straight out of some utopian sci-fi film.
This off-coast, sustainable hotel named the Recycled Ocean Plastic Resort would someday rise from the Indian Ocean off the coast of the Australian external territory Cocos (Keeling) Islands, if ever built in real-life.
Commissioned to design a sustainable floating hotel, the international design firm Margot Krasojević Architects conjured up an ambitious set of concept pieces for a water-based project that would utilize reclaimed ocean plastic for an exclusive destination resort.
Its visionary design takes full advantage of the millions of tons of discarded plastic polluting our oceans every year as buoyancy and construction materials.
Margot Krasojević Architects chose that particular Indian Ocean location as the region has been plagued with damaging effects to its ecosystems due to mounting plastic pollution problems.
To manifest this sleek floating vacation spot, its foundation would consist of massive, mesh-filled bags of reclaimed ocean waste consisting of everything from glass bottles to rubber tires to plastic bags and containers. These would be woven together to provide a heavily-anchored platform fortified with Mangrove tree roots that would wind around the mesh-filled support bags to provide stability and flood resistance, with additional layers of silt and sand heaped atop it all.
"A major design element is a pleated structure of interlaced webbing, made from biodegradable-seeded concrete fiber mesh," explains Krasojević in a statement. "These ‘tentacles’ are released from the ceramicrete upon contacting with rising water levels. They expand and inflate into the oncoming swell sinking as they absorb water creating an artificial barrier trapping sediment and absorbing floodwater. In principle, they are the artificial mangrove roots that are the island’s life jacket in an emergency, as they expand the trapped sediment creating artificially engineered land almost like an inflatable runway."
The triumphant trash pile would feature numerous hotel rooms and plentiful camping spots. Its network of showers would use distilled seawater, and power needs would be provided by a comprehensive system of solar panels.
"Each fully immersed tentacle expands and falls on top of the next creating a temporary wall preventing water from flooding the island whilst supporting it in case of damage," Krasojević adds. "Once the storm stabilizes, the tentacles are emptied. Using pumps powered by solar panels, the water is redirected off of the island and released into the Indian Ocean. The tentacles expand on impact with water pressure retaining the island's buoyancy."
There are certainly a number of financial questions, durability issues, and safety challenges attached to a complex project of this magnitude, but the architects should be applauded for having the imagination and vision to conceive of such a grand floating resort that makes use of the planet's harmful waste products.
