Abu Dhabi resident Berend Lens van Rijn is looking forward to life on the water, once his floating home is built. But it won't be a "houseboat" in the conventional sense of the word.
Van Rijn, the Dutch founder of Belevari Marine, has sold several Dutch-style houseboats to people in the UAE. But now, his vision for ocean living has gone a step further.
Van Rijn is heading a project that’s building 50 autonomous floating villas – one of which will be for himself, his wife and 9-month-old twins to live on. The fully sustainable villas will create their own power and fresh water, and treat waste.
“These villas have all the qualities of a beautiful home,” he says. “They will be about 15 metres long and eight metres wide, so the equivalent of a 50-foot catamaran. But whereas a catamaran would weigh maybe 15 tonnes, these units will weigh 180 tonnes, which means they’re super-stable. It feels like a home, because it never moves – unless there’s a tsunami.”
The three-storey villas, which come with terraces and attached floating pools, are being built on floating concrete hollow boxes, “like the hull of a boat”, with the basement inside. “That means that the centrepoint of gravity is lower and that the stability increases,” he explains.
The villas, which are among several floating-homes projects under development in the UAE, will feature as part of a resort development at Dubai’s World Islands.
But Van Rijn has also contributed to the design of his own floating home, in collaboration with a Spanish designer, with the safety of his two young children in mind. It will be located off the coast of Abu Dhabi.
“Our villa has two cubes, which can be connected by a safety rail, so the kids are contained and stay at least a metre away from the water,” he says. “Later, it’ll be easy to upgrade when my twins are a bit bigger.”
Van Rijn is eyeing Reem Island as a location for a “floating community” in Abu Dhabi. “I’m 100 per cent sure that once this thing starts to roll [in Dubai], developers will want to chat with us about building a floating community in Abu Dhabi, with its own floating school, nursery, restaurant or cafe.”
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NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
If you go
Where to stay: Courtyard by Marriott Titusville Kennedy Space Centre has unparalleled views of the Indian River. Alligators can be spotted from hotel room balconies, as can several rocket launch sites. The hotel also boasts cool space-themed decor.
When to go: Florida is best experienced during the winter months, from November to May, before the humidity kicks in.
How to get there: Emirates currently flies from Dubai to Orlando five times a week.
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
Anghami
Started: December 2011
Co-founders: Elie Habib, Eddy Maroun
Based: Beirut and Dubai
Sector: Entertainment
Size: 85 employees
Stage: Series C
Investors: MEVP, du, Mobily, MBC, Samena Capital
The National's picks
4.35pm: Tilal Al Khalediah
5.10pm: Continous
5.45pm: Raging Torrent
6.20pm: West Acre
7pm: Flood Zone
7.40pm: Straight No Chaser
8.15pm: Romantic Warrior
8.50pm: Calandogan
9.30pm: Forever Young
The rules on fostering in the UAE
A foster couple or family must:
- be Muslim, Emirati and be residing in the UAE
- not be younger than 25 years old
- not have been convicted of offences or crimes involving moral turpitude
- be free of infectious diseases or psychological and mental disorders
- have the ability to support its members and the foster child financially
- undertake to treat and raise the child in a proper manner and take care of his or her health and well-being
- A single, divorced or widowed Muslim Emirati female, residing in the UAE may apply to foster a child if she is at least 30 years old and able to support the child financially
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
