A Smart Vision for Monaco

“One Planet Living was a concept developed by Bio-Regional when I was a student. It spurred BedZED, by Bill Dunster - the UK's first major sustainable community. It’s a philosophy that has slowly gained traction. At BACA, we developed LifE (Long-term Initiatives for Flood Risk Environments), a body of work that would enable sustainable development and, in Monaco’s case, address sea level rise.” Says Richard Coutts, Director at BACA Architects.

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So, when invited to speak at the Royal Yacht Club Monaco, organized by Monaco Marina Management, he posed a simple question to the audience and the club - Could the municipality of Monaco (Population 39,000), including the yacht club (a hub of marine innovation), become a self-sustaining community? Observing the marina, you get a glimpse of the built future: thin film photovoltaics wrap state-of-the-art monocoque catamarans – that use wind as their main source to carry them on hydrofoils across the Atlantic. Among other exhibitors, plans for hydrogen-powered tenders and ecoconcrete sea defenses (reduced carbon in production, designed for carbon capture, biophilic receptiveness).

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But like most countries and cities - one overriding issue: Monaco has no more space. Its positives include that because of its size, it can change policies quickly and has the financial means to enact change.

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Within the marina, luxury boats sit primed at 100% charge, but they do not work together, dumping waste energy. To an observer, possibly one of the most beautiful solar arrays on water. Could this flotilla of boats create a unified energy network and either capture surplus energy or use it for the benefit of the wider city?

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Monaco is also very urban, consisting of many hard surfaces - its roofscapes are prominently flat with little greening. So, there was a discussion alongside pioneers of energy, design, and materials, what is the future of the Smart Marina and could this be extended into smart city design that they sustain.

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The symposium was hosted by Sir Robin Knox and was great to share ideas with Maarten van de Vorde - West 8, And Nicola Beck - NBax Architecture & Design, Eduardo Gutierrez - On-A, Giovanni de Niederhausern – Pininfarina.

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Hopefully, these ideas will evolve into tangible deliverables.