An ambitious reclaimed resort aims to transform ocean plastic into a luxury resort. Photo / Margo Krasojevic, Supplied
An ambitious reclaimed resort aims to transform ocean plastic into a luxury resort. Photo / Margo Krasojevic, Supplied
When purveying brochures for island resort escapes, the plastic atolls of the Pacific "Garbage Patch" do not rate highly on tourists' wishlists. However, one daring architect studio aims to change this.
The London-based Margo Krasojevic studio has released a design for a "Reclaimed Hotel" which floats on an island of ocean waste.
"I think tourism has changed and people are looking to visit places nobody has ever been to before," says lead Architect Margo Krasojevic, this goes for "extreme adventure holidays as well as environmental and sustainable getaways."
The project is to be deployed in Australia's Cocos / Keeling archipelago in the south Indian Ocean, which has seen increased in plastic pollution and damage from floating ocean debris.
Ambitious both in design and concept, the "floating landfill" would not only attract tourists but also litter.
Refuse resorts: Plastic waste on the beach at Cam Ranh, Vietnam. Photo / Dukas, Getty Images
Standing on a network of mesh and webbing, the design is able to grow as it collects high-density plastic. Hoovering up anything from plastic bottles to rubber tyres, the island will cement the debris in place by planting mangrove and hardy plants to turn the garbage patch into a habitable island.
Octopus like, the main structure's "tentacles" are designed to be expanded, to grow with the project. These also help stabilise the space-age structure, to avoid capsize during storms and provide buoyancy if the island is damaged.
Built out of low-carbon materials, such as "ceramicrete" the reclaimed island and resort is an ongoing project.
On a platform of recycled rubbish the hotel itself offers basic, eco-conscious luxury.
The project aims to lanscape and reclaim ocean plastics into idyllic mangroves. Photo / Margo Krasojevic, Supplied
Within the hotel you will find a series of canopied rooms and land for camping. Plumbing will run on filtered and distilled seawater pumped around the building using a solar power plant.
If you fancy a visit to the reclaimed resort, you'll have to muck in with chores to help improve the man made environment.
"The hotel and camping ground offers tourists a place to stay whilst they help out with the running of the island," says Krasojevic, who has been inspired by agrotourism projects.
"It's like a Kibbutz but offering a beautiful resort which needs to be nurtured and maintained."
There will also be all the trappings of a luxury eco resort including recreation areas and sustainable dining.
"I think a resort that offers both time by the pool as well as a community effort to maintain and be responsible for the resort is not a novel idea," she says.
The ambitious, floating project will grow as it collects more ocean waste. Photo / Margo Krasojevic, Supplied
Promising to deliver "Utopian getaways" on a man made island, the idea may be far fetched but it's not entirely rubbish.
The resort would be tethered to the ocean floor using leg structures like those of an oil rig, which could be extended to depths of over 6km or moved to different patches of sea.
While there is no total costings for the project as yet, it is not expected to be much more than "an average off shore oil rig."
The hotel is currently out for tender with nautical and environmental engineering firms, so could become a reality sooner than you think.
Plastic paradise: Pacific Garbage Patch
The islands of ocean waste were first dicovered by accident in 1997 by ocean rower Charles Moore.
The Plastiki arrives in Sydney Harbour, in July 2010, completing a 12,860 kilometre pacific journey. Photo / Getty Images
Since then the Great Pacific Garbage Patch has only continued to grow. The American Oceanographic Service NOAA now estimates the patch to be made of 3.6 trillion pieces of plastic, spreading for 1.6 million square kilometres in the sub tropics.
However it is hard to guage the true size of these islands, as they easily fragment and spread through the ocean currents of the Pacific gyre.
The cost of clearing the garbage patch would be enormous, so novel ideas for recycling or reclaiming ocean waste have been welcomed by activists.
In 2010 a catamran built from reclaimed plastic bottles - dubbed the "Plastiki" - sailed from California to Australia to raise awareness for the problem.
