TROPICANA: SUSTAINABLE REUSE OF A SWIMMING POOL

Recently, I moved to Rotterdam. Here I discovered all kinds of new wonderful and inspiring places, amongst others Tropicana. Tropicana was a tropical swimming pool quite centrally located next the river Maas, which went bankrupt in 2010. The building was empty for a while and destined for demolition to make way for senior apartments. But in 2013 different entrepreneurs joint their powers under the nameBluecity010 to preserve the unconventional building with plans to reuse it as a city greenhouse, mushroom farm and hospitality spot. Bluecity010 wants to turn Tropicana into an inspiring place for people to experiment with living and working without waste. The different companies involved try to align their plans, resources and waste. The project commenced and transformed the former pool to meet the new program. A big part of the former pool is now used by Rotterzwam, a company that cultivates mushrooms that grow on the residue of coffee; coffee grounds. Their enterprise is sustainable in multiple ways. Firstly, by producing mushrooms 600-1000 times less water is consumed than in the meat-industry. This already makes a good start. Secondly, they promote and produce local food instead of transporting it around the world. Next, they use the residue of coffee for their food production, reusing the ‘waste-product’ instead of sending it to the waste incineration. After the mushrooms are full-grown, the leftovers are again reused to subtract enzymes that are utilised for bioplastics and biofuels development. And the waste heat and waste CO2 produced by the mushrooms are used to grow algae. This way, the initiative promotes a way of thinking and doing, from focussing on waste reduction to focussing on how to use the waste for production. Moreover, it makes use of an existing structure with specific characteristics that fit their program, since (part of) the former tropicalpool is designed for a humid and hot environment, the climate conditions meet those for mushrooms production. This means by reusing the building, 12.000 square metres are utilised for sustainable production, innovation, inspiration and demonstration. Also, the building has been an icon of Rotterdam and is fixed in many of its inhabitant childhood memories. Its location at the Maas provides a beautiful view on both the Willemsbridge as well as the Erasmus bridge, which now can easily be enjoyed from the lovely summer terrace of the Aloha bar. This hospitality spot can provide you with delicious coffee, beers or cocktails as well as lunch and diner. And of course they serve many variaties of dishes containing the tasty Rotterzwam mushrooms produced in the same place. It is an great place to go and a great initiative that shows how an iconic building like this can be re-used in a sustainable way and give a boost to its location.