Architects
Location
Meent 119, 3011 JH Rotterdam, The NetherlandsPartners In Charge
Rem Koolhaas, Reinier de GraafAssociate
Alex de JongProject Team
Philippe Braun, Clarisa Garcia Fresco, Maaike Hawinkels, Andrew Linn, Takeshi Murakuni, Peter Rieff, Tom Tang, Sakine Dicle Uzanyayla, Mark VeldmanInterior Team
Saskia Simon, Andrea Giannotti, Ross O'Connell, Mafalda Rangel, Lucia Zamponi, Grisha ZotovArea
43370.0 sqmProject Year
2015Photographs
Ossip van Duivenbode, Courtesy of OMALocation
Meent 119, 3011 JH Rotterdam, The NetherlandsProject Year
2015Photographs
Ossip van Duivenbode, Courtesy of OMAArea
43370.0 m2
Local Architect
AbtProcess Management
Brinkgroep BVStructural Engineer
Pieters Bouwtechniek DelftMEP Engineer
Deems Raadgevende ingenieursSustainability, Building Physics, and Fire Consultant
DGMRCost Consultant
AbtCompetition Team
Pascual Bernad, Vilhelm Christensen, Alessandro De Santis, Katrien van Dijk, Jake Forster, David Gianotten, Alasdair Graham, Mendel Robbers, Dirk Peters, Tsuyoshi Nakamoto, Timur Shabaev, Yuri Suzuki, Mark Veldman, Milos ZivkovicCompetition Engineering, Structural and Installations
ABT: Rob Nijsse, Gyuszi Florian, Niek Kunnen, Harry Pasterkamp, Jeroen ter HaarCompetition Sustainability Consultants
Werner Sobek Green Technologies: Heide Schuster, Lara BurmeisterCompetition Cost Consultants
PRC: Ben Kersten, Marjan PebbelmanCompetition Model
OMACompetition Model Photography
Frans ParthesiusCompetition 3D Renderings
OMAPartners In Charge
Rem Koolhaas, Reinier de GraafAssociate
Alex de JongProject Team
Philippe Braun, Clarisa Garcia Fresco, Maaike Hawinkels, Andrew Linn, Takeshi Murakuni, Peter Rieff, Tom Tang, Sakine Dicle Uzanyayla, Mark VeldmanInterior Team
Saskia Simon, Andrea Giannotti, Ross O'Connell, Mafalda Rangel, Lucia Zamponi, Grisha Zotov
Set to be delivered in mid-2015, OMA's Stadskantoor is nearing completion. Designed as a modular structure, the building takes form through cellular units rising in two amorphous peaks away from the street. The uncommon configuration seeks to provide a flexible new mixed-use building for Rotterdam's City Hall.
Rem Koolhaas states, "What is now needed may be subtlety and ambiguity in the midst of an overdose of form. We propose a 'formless' heap, consisting of smaller elements that are shaped to perform a number of major and minor responsibilities. Where necessary, the shape can be formal and impressive, almost symmetrical - for instance, from the Coolsingel, glimpsed between the two survivors - and where desired, it can be delicate and accommodating - for instance in its relationship with the existing monument, Stadstimmerhuis."
In 2009, OMA won first prize for the competition to design Rotterdam's Stadskantoor, which will be composed of municipal services, offices, and residential units. Responding to a dense urban context, the building is designed to evolve and adapt to changing demands over time. The modular structural system can be constructed efficiently and allows programmatic versatility as units can be added or removed when necessary. Thus, the units easily transform between office space and residential quarters. Upper level terraces allow for gardens and greenery in the midst of downtown Rotterdam.
The units are stacked to recede horizontally as the building rises vertically, providing generous open space at the street level. Modules shade interstitial area in order to engage passersby and facilitate interaction between building and city.
The project is required to be the most sustainable building in the Netherlands. Two large atriums connected to a climate system work towards achieving this goal. Functioning as the building's lungs, the atrium climate system stores warm air in summer and cold air in winter, releasing the energy as desired. Hi-tech translucent insulation in the glass facade allows for energy efficiency.
The building aims to mediate between existing structures through its ambiguous form. The street between town hall and the post office aligns with Stadskantoor's axis of symmetry and extends between the two buildings into a passageway to the Haagseveer. Stadskantoor reflects the scale of the neighboring Stadtimmerhuis by paralleling the same floor heights, and maintaining a plinth height of 20 meters to accommodate the aesthetic of the surrounding Laurenskwartier.
Rem Koolhaas adds, "Our structural system - a three dimensional Vierendeel structure in steel - enables us to improvise and to liberate the ground almost in its entirety, to interpret the 'Stadswinkel' as an unencumbered public space, in which we arrange the interaction between citizen and city in a dignified, spacious urban landscape, with an almost 'Roman' scale and materiality."
