Powerhouse Company

A Vessel for Change

Moored at Rijnhaven port in Rotterdam, Powerhouse Company’s floating office for the Global Center on Adaptation is a building for a new age. Self-sufficient and carbon-neutral, it will float – rather than flood – if water levels rise due to climate change. Fun as well as functional, it also forms a key element in a newly redeveloped port environment by providing public waterside space – and even a swimming pool.

FOR the future
We designed our floating office to reflect the values of its inhabitants: the Global Center on Adaptation (GCA). This Rotterdam NGO aims at promoting planning, investment and technology to mitigate climate change. Our climate-resilient head office is both an illustration of the center’s mission and an inspiration for others. With its own solar energy source and water-based heat-exchange system, it’s completely self-sufficient. Besides GCA, FOR is home to ABN AMRO, RED Company, Powerhouse Company, and restaurant Putaine.

‘The building structure is designed in wood and can easily be demounted and reused. It’s ready for the circular economy.’

– Albert Takashi Richters, Partner Architect at Powerhouse Company

FOR is the largest floating office in the world, and one of the most sustainable offices globally, as well as a pioneer in circular timber workplaces of this scale. The use of wood as a main construction material dramatically reduces the carbon footprint of the building.

Generating its own energy thanks to 800 square meters of solar panels, FOR uses the water from the Rijnhaven harbor in a heat-exchange system, while overhanging balconies provide cooling shade. It is an outstanding example of circular design, with all the materials used in its construction being completely recyclable.

Located in what was once one of Rotterdam’s busiest working harbors, FOR marks the first step in the broader regeneration of the Rijnhaven area. The shift from disused industrial waterfront to a new, mixed urban district is already reshaping this part of the city, and the Floating Office sets the tone for that transformation. As an early anchor on the water, it signals a future in which the harbor becomes an active, inhabited landscape again, helping to reintroduce scale, identity, and momentum to a long-dormant site.
‘Designing a sustainable, floating office building was a very challenging commission and we approached it in an integrated way. By using the water of the Rijnhaven to cool the building, and by using the roof of the office as a large energy source, the building is truly autarkic.’

– Nanne de Ru, founder of Powerhouse Company