Land On Water

project info

Floating modular platforms that enable resilient ways of living in an age of rising sea levels.

year

2022

collaborator

Enabled by Hubert Rhomberg, in collaboration with Maritime Architecture Studio MAST.

The World we live in

“Extreme sea level events that are historically rare will become common by 2100 under all emission scenarios.”
IPCC, 2019 →

“Rising Seas Will Erase More Cities by 2050 than previously thought.”

New York Times, 2019 →

“Greenland: Enough Ice Melted on Single Day to Cover Florida in Two Inches of Water”

The Guardian, 2021 →

“802,555 Homes around the world at risk of 10-Year Flood Inundation by 2050. Worth $451 Billion.”

Zillow, 2019 →

“Extreme sea level events that are historically rare will become common by 2100 under all emission scenarios.”
IPCC, 2019 →

“Rising Seas Will Erase More Cities by 2050 than previously thought.”

New York Times, 2019 →

“Greenland: Enough Ice Melted on Single Day to Cover Florida in Two Inches of Water”

The Guardian, 2021 →

“802,555 Homes around the world at risk of 10-Year Flood Inundation by 2050. Worth $451 Billion.”

Zillow, 2019 →

The World we live in

Despite the ever-accelerating climate crisis, cities and countries around the world continue to pump billions of dollars into non-resilient land expansion and protection projects.

“In times of rising sea levels,
we humans still try to extend our already threatened lands in conventional ways.”

Hubert Rhomberg, Owner Rhomberg Group

Today's solutions

Whilst floating structures are experiencing something of a renaissance, today’s solutions seem inadequate and outdated.

Today's Challenges

Although floating structures are a globally established, multi-million market with low entry barriers (i.e. limited building codes), no manufacturer has emerged with a globally scalable solution nor taken a dominant market position.

Guiding Principle

We strive to design floating infrastructure solutions that adapt with nature, rather than fighting it.

LOW is the world’s leading provider of safe, sustainable and flexible land on water for the age of rising sea levels.

The solution has been co-designed with Maritime Architecture Studio (MAST), a Copenhagen-based practice focussing on water-based architecture with people and planet in mind →

System Components

LOW’s core products are floating modules in cubic and
triangular shapes.

Each module consists of two core elements, including a flat-pack cage and top tray made from recycled fiber-reinforced plastics (FRP).

LOW’s core products are floating modules in cubic and
triangular shapes.

Each module consists of two core elements, including a flat-pack cage and top tray made from recycled fiber-reinforced plastics (FRP).

Many Configuration Possibilities

The modules can be combined to create a vast number of configurations, providing a platform for many purposes and needs.

Grid-Based Building System

LOW’s grid-based anchor points enable standardised, prefabricated and scalable means of construction. In close partnership with leading building system manufacturers, we design a diverse catalogue of applications that can be built on top of the platforms.

Floating Home

LOW

Product ID #001

Floating Family Home

by MAST

LOW

Product ID #001

Floating Family Home

by MAST

Floating Living

LOW enables a broad spectrum of use cases, including floating restaurants and multi-family dwellings.

Floating Infrastructure

Besides residential-focused use cases, LOW also provides a platform for infrastructure such as energy harvesting through floating solar panels or greenhouses for water-based food production.

Flatpack Solution

LAND ON WATER is a flat-pack solution that allows for efficient transport and easy on-site assembly. All floatation materials are sourced and manufactured locally.

Flatpack Solution

Gabions are a proven, affordable and versatile way of anchoring
loose materials to the ground through simply constructed cages.
LOW inverts this proven concept, allowing to fill the gabions with locally sourced floating materials to carry the structure’s weight.

Gabions are a proven, affordable and versatile way of anchoring loose materials to the ground through simply constructed cages. LOW inverts this proven concept, allowing to fill the gabions with locally sourced floating materials to carry the structure’s weight.

Weight-based Floatation Distribution

The flexible floating elements are distributed according to the building’s overall weight, ensuring balance and stability and allowing for easy rearrangements and replacements if needed.

Turning plastic waste into an enabler for resilient floating habitats.

One of LOW’s confirmed key partners is ALPLA, an Austrian-based family-owned plastic manufacturer and recycling specialist with facilities around the globe.

We currently explore how we might leverage the company’s expertise, capabilities and infrastructure to produce floating elements made of locally sourced plastic waste.

One of LOW’s confirmed key partners is ALPLA, an Austrian-based family-owned plastic manufacturer and recycling specialist with facilities around the globe.

We currently explore how we might leverage the company’s expertise, capabilities and infrastructure to produce floating elements made of locally sourced plastic waste.

Exploring nature-based, locally available floatation materials.

As alternatives to recycled plastic, which might be constrained in its usage due to microplastic particles and ocean acidification, we also explore alternative nature-based and locally available floatation materials such as wood or bamboo.