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HOUSING BLOCK HOGE ERASMUS

B.J. SYBESMA (KLUNDER ARCHITECTEN), 1995-2001, Willemsplein 489-569, Rotterdam

ARCHITECT(URAL OFFICE):
Klunder Architecten

PROJECT ARCHITECT:
Berend Sybesma

BUILDING TYPE:
Housing


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 arrival of the https://www.architectureguide.nl/project/item/prj_id/316" class="inline_link">Erasmus Bridge necessitated redeveloping the open space of Willemsplein. The 90 metre tall 'Hoge Erasmus' boasts 68 swish apartments, with office space in a rectangular basement and parking concentrated in a separate portion. The undulating facade mirrors the bend in the river, with two apartments along it instead of one. The rectangular volume at the rear contains lifts and stairs and a single residential unit facing the city. A quintet of penthouses top off the building.