Urban Rigger | BIG | Bjarke Ingels Group

URBAN RIGGER is a revolutionary and innovative floating multiple dwelling system
enabling centrally located affordable student housing. An URBAN RIGGER is designed
for all river, harbour and canal intensive urban cities.

By stacking shipping containers in a opposite triangles, BIG Architect has managed to create 12 studio apartments which frame a centralized garden used as a common meeting place for the residents. Containers on top of the hull are placed in two tiers arranged in opposite triangles. The lower tier consists of 3 containers with a total of 3 accommodations.

The upper tier consists of 6 containers with a total of 9 accommodations giving a total of some 300 m2 living space on one URBAN RIGGER. The 12 apartments are between 23-28m2 (260-300 sq.f) and is equipped with kitchen and bathroom including shower and toilet. Each URBAN RIGGER unit has a 160 m2 common green courtyard with bicycle parking, bathing platform, kayak landing and barbecue area, as well as a 60 m2 rooftop terrace and a 220 m2 basement with storage, technical and fully automatic shared laundry.

The unprecedented and urgent need for student housing:
With a total projected deficit in Europe of more than 4 million student beds by 2025, the housing situation for students in the European capitals is almost unmanageable. In Denmark, with 64,000 new admissions to higher education annually, 24.000 students are without residences according to the Danish Construction and Housing Ministry. Overall, according to the Danish Construction Association, the estimates shows a need for 130,000 more homes by 2020 due to increased urbanization , increased population and more elderly . The challenges of the refugee situation in the EU is not included in the equation.

The potential:
Governments and local authorities in the EU are desperately searching for solutions to the increasing student housing challenges and are trying to support the interest in the construction of student residences by allowing their respective universities to enter into irrevocable fixed long-term contracts directly with the developers, which consequently gives the rental guarantee and eliminates any ” vacancy rent ” This has contributed to some of the largest pension funds and real estate investment companies in the EU, to view student residence investments as, among the most stable investments over the next 20 years.

Location
By far, the most Universities are centrally located in the big cities, The challenge everyone faces in new constructions, is to find available centrally located land to build on. The need for student housing in Europe has created a potential that is inherently enormously. but, in the same way as there is only room for a certain number of cars on a stretch of road before traffic congests, the challenge has been to find the small un-trafficked ” back roads ” that results in getting quickly and easily to same destination as all those who wont arrive until later due to congestion. And URBAN RIGGER is conceptualized for that “Back Road” The Water Ways, the thousands of kilometres of untapped harbour, river and canal intensive cities of Europe. 

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The first Urban Rigger is Located in Copenhagen, and students will move into their new Urban Rigger apartments by May 2018.

Early 2019 five additional Urban Riggers will arrive to Copenhagen (60 new apartments) on the same location in Copenhagen Harbour.

Urban Rigger have won a project in Göteborg, Sweden, for 24 Urban Riggers (288 apartments), and this project is expected to follow Copenhagen.

Currently Urban Rigger are focusing on sales and production in Northern Europe, but in 2019 Urban Rigger will expand internationally and potentially to other continents. This could be through partnerships, franchise or know-how and license agreements.

Urban Rigger have had several inquiries on Urban Rigger from around the world.