ARCHITECTUURGIDS.NL / ARCHITECTUREGUIDE.NL

GEBOUW DE ROTTERDAM

OMA, 1997-2013, Wilhelminakade 137, Rotterdam

ARCHITECT(URAL OFFICE):
OMA

PROJECT ARCHITECT:
Rem Koolhaas
Reinier de Graaf
Ellen van Loon

BUILDING TYPE:
Hotels, cafés, restaurants
Office buildings
Housing

This mixed-use ‘vertical city’ complex containing offices, apartments, cafés and restaurants was designed way back in 1998, but construction did not commence until 2009 when the city council agreed to become a major tenant of the middle tower. The huge, 149 metre high building with a 100 by 40 metre plinth and a total floor area of 162,000 m2, has dominated the skyline of the Wilhelminapier high-rise cluster at Kop van Zuid since its completion. The 40 metre high plinth contains entrance lobbies, a few floors of parking and leisure facilities. On top of the plinth are three inter-connected towers; at around the ninety metre mark the volumes are displaced in different directions. This produces some balconies and cantilevers, but most importantly it articulates the rest of the building mass and manages to create a lively cluster of masses despite the taut and neutral facades. The west tower consists entirely of apartments while the bottom of the east tower is occupied by a hotel.