The Sponge Habitat

‘When rain falls in most of our concrete-lined cities, at best, we are left with a soggy urban landscape, dotted with flooded patches and the occasional impromptu stream. Yet, what if we could design rainfall into our public spaces?’ (Perry, 2016). What if sport pitches, public areas, or even study spaces could be transformed into picturesque water ponds when it rains? As rain intensities are expected to increase between two and four times by 2040, the scheme predicts the future scenario in which

The combination of urban flooding and digital infrastructure will become an alternative source of heating for the city of Amsterdam, which includes many areas predictable to flooding and a high number of datacentres. The proposed hybrid includes activities such as: education and research, public spaces, catering, offices, leisure and sports, while creating a new cultural hub of the city. At the same time, all the spaces mentioned above include floodable basins which accumulate rainwater and combine it with the heat received from the adjacent datacentre. This becomes a sponge habitat which accumulates rainwater, mitigate urban flooding and creates a link between infrastructure and community.

Another key point of the proposal is the boat terminal, which is located next to the existing canal. It creates a direct waterway link to the city centre and provides access to the underground floodable bike park, ground and first floors. It also includes viewing docks, which are connected to the exterior floodable squares.

During the summer, the exterior floodable basins become swimming pools, during winter and autumn they are reflective pools full of rainwater, and during the winter, they are turned into ice rinks. The floodable squares gather all the rainwater from the surrounding context and it is also a perfect promenade landscape which takes the visitors from the boat terminal to the research centre.

‍