The Rotterdam

OMA

Rotterdam, Wilhelminakade 177

1997 – 2013

Rotterdam

Rotterdam is one of my favorite cities. The high-rise and architecture in this city would never be allowed in my most favorite city, Antwerp (because of the administration, the monuments and the population). But it is possible in Rotterdam. One of the latest acquisitions is the Rotterdam on the south side of the city. Formerly a harbor, now a little more drawn to the center. The construction of the Erasmus Bridge in particular was important for this area.

Biggest building of the Netherlands

With its 165,000 m², this building is the largest in the Netherlands that was built in one go. The building is a collection of towers, a vertical city. 5000 people work here, there are 240 homes and it has a height of 149.1 meters. The disadvantages of towers are the shadow and the view, which is why the towers are offset against each other. The space between the towers is 6 meters wide. According to the architects this was experimental, one does not miss in advance whether this would be enough. You can compare it to a street, the space between the facades is 5 meters. But usually the buildings around it are only three storeys high. Here they worked with more than 40 layers.

Koolhaas said he primarily designed the building to view it from a moving car, and that works. If you drive or walk on the other side of the bridge you will see the towers jump. They are not boring straight towers, but they have gotten a kink that gives you dancing towers. That works very well. (NRC)

Hotel + appartements + offices + parking

On the ground floor there is a central hall where everyone must pass. So it is not that every tower has its own entrance. This hall is used for events such as fashion shows. The functions are visible from this hall, it is readable. For example, you can see the cars parked in the garage from the hall. During the opening there was some confusion here with some people, because they thought there was also a car show. There is also a hotel in it. A few months before the opening, the hotel was given a new director and he quickly asked OMA to furnish the hotel. There had to be a design within the week and everything had to be ready after 4 months. There was the idea of a theater with black walls and raw materials. They wanted to make the tower as sustainable as possible. The first step is that the building is in the city, which is already a sustainable start.

Visit

You can visit the building for a drink at the Nhow hotel (that’s why there is an ‘n ‘ on the terrace) or by a tour by Rotterdam Tours (remember that the building weighs 230.000 tons and not only 230 ;o)