Hans (1951) was born on a small island in Indonesia where his father was a doctor. He grew up barefoot and combing the beach everyday; his love for the ocean and watersport was evident at a young age. As a competitive sailor Hans has experience on various sailing yachts and navigated many exotic waterways. These days he still prefers to spend his holidays afloat.

Hans studied architecture at the Technical University in Delft (Netherlands) and in 1994 founded the architecture firm KOW which would later evolve into one of the largest and most well known firms in its field with subsidiaries in The Netherlands and Shanghai. Hans is the creator of prize-winning buildings such as the bollard shaped head quarters of Mammoet Transport in Rotterdam and the futuristic round Fashion Dome in Almere. With a love for unusual construction techniques and the use of natural materials he designed and developed in 1994 the first sustainable and emission free residential suburb Nieuw Terbregge in Rotterdam.

In 2016, Hans started dreaming of a futuristic sailing yacht; a ship encompassing construction and technology that would be unlike anything else….. The Autark-Zero will be the first ship design from his hand. His vision is to utilise new technology in the design, construction and usage to not only strive for sustainability but also to deliver a superior experience for the owner of the boat.