The Citadel

Scheduled for completion in 2014, the Citadel could be Europe's first floating apartment building, according to architect Koen Olthuis of Waterstudio.NL. The 60-unit complex is to be built in the Dutch city of Westland, near The Hague, and is meant to protect people from flooding in a country that sits, to a large degree, below sea level.

Holland is home to more than 3,500 inland depressions, which can fill with water when it rains, when tides come in, or as seas rise overall. These so-called polders are often drained by pumps to protect residents.

Floating single-family homes are not uncommon in this soggy country, but the Citadelto be built on a flooded polderwill be the first high-density floating residential development. The complex's floating concrete foundation will be connected to higher ground via a floating road.

Olthuis predicts the Citadeland its five planned neighborswill consume 25 percent less energy over its life span than a conventional building.

(See photos of the effects of sea level rise.)

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Pictures: Floating Cities of the Future