ARCHITECTUURGIDS.NL / ARCHITECTUREGUIDE.NL

WESTELIJK HANDELSTERREIN

TH.L. KANTERS, -1894, Van Vollenhovenstraat 15, Rotterdam

ARCHITECT(URAL OFFICE):
Theo Kanters

:
Henk Klunder
Jan van der Weerd

DESIGN ENGINEER:
Mick Eekhout

ARTIST:
Cor Kraat
Bouke Ylstra

BUILDING TYPE:
Industrial and public-utility buildings
Hotels, cafés, restaurants
Reuse

Behind the stately facades of the 'shipping quarter' (Scheepvaartkwartier, between The Park and the Erasmus Bridge) lies Westelijk Handelsterrein, a 19th-century complex of split-level warehouses with grass roofs. The 36 storage depots are six metres wide with a depth of 25 metres on the left-hand side and almost 40 metres on the right-hand side. These were reached through a gateway, later modified to accommodate lorries. It was the brainchild of J.C.A. Hol, the director of a warehousing company (https://www.architectureguide.nl/project/item/prj_id/1953" class="inline_link">Blaauwhoedenveem), who until 1910 lived in the house on the street side. In 2001 the complex gained a glass roof and was recast as a trendy leisure zone. Restaurants, cafés, galleries and dance clubs now adjoin its central roofed space.