SPA
FLOATING AWAY
Developed by an architect, an engineer and a footballer, the Floating Gardens will offer innovative spa treatments on a groundbreaking eco-friendly floating building in the middle of a lake in Amsterdam. Co-founder Michel Kreuger tells Magali Robathan all about it
A
floating spa built out of recycled polystyrene and covered with vegeta- tion, offering treatments that promise to help the
brain adapt and heal itself – it’s fair to say the Floating Gardens is not your average spa concept. Developed by Michel Kreuger and ex-professional footballer Kizito Musampa, together with architect Anne Holtrop, the Floating Gardens spa is due to open in 2014. The two-storey building will be located on a freshwater lake just out- side Amsterdam’s city centre. It will feature four pools, two restaurant/ bars, five saunas and three treatment rooms and will be covered with a ‘liv- ing wall’ of plants designed by botanist Patrick Blanc. It will offer treatments based around concepts such as psy- choneuroimmunology – which looks at how emotions and health are linked and how stress leads to disease – and neuroplasticity – a science that stud- ies the brain’s potential for change and ability to adapt and renew itself. The concept has been presented at various exhibitions since 2010, and
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has attracted high levels of interest. Here Michel Kreuger, founder of green technology company Studio Noach, explains how the idea was born.
When was Studio Noach founded?
I founded it in 2008 together with my business partner [ex Manchester City and Ajax Amsterdam player] Kizito ‘Kiki’ Musampa. The studio was based on our Green Floating concept, which uses recycled polystyrene to create floating buildings. The original idea was to build house-
boats, but when the housing market stalled we decided to move into well- ness because it’s a niche market. Even when the housing market dips, there’s still a demand for spas.
What is the Green Floating concept? It’s all based on building on a foun- dation of recycled polystyrene, which is as strong as steel, but can flex by 17 per cent and is also very buoyant and provides excellent insulation. This structure is coated by fibreglass and covered with a layer of vegetation on
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top of the building. We always knew that the carbon footprint of our build- ings had to be neutral – we’ve actually gone one step further and made it car- bon negative because the vegetation will convert CO2 to oxygen.
How did you choose the location? We’re based in Amsterdam, and we have a freshwater lake right outside of the city centre. It’s a place where you can relax and look over the horizon, while being very close to the city cen- tre and the 17th century canals. The Amsterdam local government
is trying to move the city away from the image of the red light district and the coffee shops and encour- age more visitors interested in Van Gogh, Rembrandt and the 17th century canals. That sort of audience would be keen to go on a boat trip and come and spend half a day in the spa.
What facilities will the spa have? On the ground floor there will be four pools, including an outdoor infinity pool and a hot tub with views across the lake. There will also be two
ISSUE 3 2013 © cybertrek 2013
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