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OFFICE BUILDING COOLSE POORT

GROOSMAN PARTNERS, 1972-1979, Coolsingel 139, Rotterdam

ARCHITECT(URAL OFFICE):
Groosman Partners

PROJECT ARCHITECT:
Rob van Erk

BUILDING TYPE:
Office buildings


RELATED BUILDINGS:
High-Rise Zone Rotterdam

Rotterdam is the pre-eminent Dutch city when it comes to high-rise, beginning with https://www.architectureguide.nl/project/item/prj_id/188" class="inline_link">Het Witte Huis, the country's first skyscraper. High-rise was made possible by such technological advances as the lift (1854) and the use of steel and reinforced concrete. Of course, taller buildings had been erected before, such as the 64 metre tall tower of the https://www.architectureguide.nl/project/item/prj_id/24" class="inline_link">St. Laurenskerk. The record then passed in 1931 to the https://www.architectureguide.nl/project/item/prj_id/299" class="inline_link">electricity board building (64 m.), then to the https://www.architectureguide.nl/project/item/prj_id/206" class="inline_link">Medical Faculty (114 m.) and the headquarters of https://www.architectureguide.nl/project/item/prj_id/1351" class="inline_link">Nationale-Nederlanden (151 m.), to the https://www.architectureguide.nl/project/item/prj_id/1996" class="inline_link">Maastoren, with 165 metres the tallest building in the Netherlands.
The reconstruction-era premises of Rotterdamsch Nieuwsblad, a regional daily newspaper, were demolished to build Coolse Poort. The arrival of this high-rise deflected the sight line down Coolsingel to the left to Leuvehaven. The complex consists of three parts about a central reinforced concrete core for stability containing vertical circulation and service shafts. Its burgundy-coloured glass and aluminium curtain wall earned it the nicknames 'Aubergine' and 'Red Beet'.