ARCHITECTUURGIDS.NL / ARCHITECTUREGUIDE.NL

NEDERLAND > ROTTERDAM

MAP - IMAGES

NEXT PROJECT

EYE HOSPITAL

A. VAN DER STEUR, W.A.C. HERMAN DE GROOT, K.I. RUIGE, 1941-1949

Schiedamse Vest 180, Rotterdam

ARCHITECT(URAL OFFICE):
Ad van der Steur
Willem Herman de Groot
Klaas Ruige

:
Joost Koldeweij

ARTIST:
Carl Gellings

:
Architectengroep Duintjer

INTERIOR ARCHITECT:
Marijke van der Wijst

BUILDING TYPE:
Health service buildings

Bouwkundig Weekblad 1949 p.301; Bouw 2006-8; de Architect 2006-10; A. Gielen - Ad van der Steur, 2002; cdrom Wederopbouw Rotterdam 1940/1965, 1996

Construction of a new eye hospital began during the war although it would not be completed until 1949. It combines a tall front facade with two less-tall portions, the right-hand one enfolding a courtyard and the left-hand one being an extension seamlessly grafted on in 1959. The main entrance is marked by a tower graced with a wrought-iron sculpture of a shining sun rising from behind dark clouds. The concrete frame is clad in yellowish-grey brick. Precast concrete elements decoratively patterned enliven the facades. A row of balconies borne aloft by barrel vaults and brackets gives the building the air of an Italian palazzo. When the hospital was renovated in 2005, the interior was brightened up with sayings printed in large letters, colour fields and art works into a 'folk museum for ocular art'.