Saudi Arabia reveals plans for $5bn turtle-shaped floating city
Saudi Arabia will soon be home to a $5 billion terayacht titled ‘Pangeos’.
The new project, is shaped like a turtle and will accommodate up to 60,000 people. On completion, Pangeos will become the largest floating structure ever built.
Proposed and designed by Italian design studio Lazzarini, Pangeos “takes its name from Pangea, the supercontinent that existed millions of years ago during the late Paleozoic and early Mesozoic eras.”
Lazzarini added: “Translating this into a somewhat futuristic expression, Pangeos extends its length for 550 meters (1,800 ft) and measures 610 meters (2,000 ft) at its widest point — the wings. If realized, the turtle-shaped vessel will become the world’s largest structure ever built.”
The floating yacht will see 19 villas and 64 apartments on each ‘wing’ of the turtle-shaped tearayacht.
While the interiors of Pangeos are yet to be revealed, Lazzarini expects $8 billion to be invested in construction, with a timeline of eight years.
Pangeos will also be comprised of nine different bows, which are further divided into several blocks. The bows begin from the entrance of the port area to the main square, that extends into a wide terraced villa and subsequently leads to private houses, buildings, and rooftop terraces, with an upper ‘shell’ zone that offers the landing of various flying vehicles.
In the lower space, the design team houses 30,000 cells or cluster compartments and provides an unsinkable floating solution for the basement, which is conceived to be realised mainly in steel.
Pangeos will feature a rooftop garden, mall and beach club and a ‘Terashipyard’ infrastructure that is 650 meters wide and 600 meters long, providing direct access to the sea.
While it is proposed for Saudi Arabia, Pangeos is designed to sail around the world non-stop, as it will be equipped with virtually endless green energy supplies. Powered by 9 HTS engines of 16,800 HP each, Pangeos is expected to cruise at a maximum speed of 5 knots (5.7 mph/9.2 kph), drawing its power from ocean waves and the solar panels-covered roof.
