In Progress: Stadskantoor / OMA

In Progress: Stadskantoor / OMA - Windows, Facade, CityscapeIn Progress: Stadskantoor / OMA - Windows, Cityscape, FacadeIn Progress: Stadskantoor / OMA - WindowsIn Progress: Stadskantoor / OMA - FacadeIn Progress: Stadskantoor / OMA - More Images+ 25

  • Architects

  • Location

    Meent 119, 3011 JH Rotterdam, The Netherlands
  • Partners In Charge

    Rem Koolhaas, Reinier de Graaf
  • Associate

    Alex de Jong
  • Project Team

    Philippe Braun, Clarisa Garcia Fresco, Maaike Hawinkels, Andrew Linn, Takeshi Murakuni, Peter Rieff, Tom Tang, Sakine Dicle Uzanyayla, Mark Veldman
  • Interior Team

    Saskia Simon, Andrea Giannotti, Ross O'Connell, Mafalda Rangel, Lucia Zamponi, Grisha Zotov
  • Area

    43370.0 sqm
  • Project Year

    2015
  • Photographs

    Ossip van Duivenbode, Courtesy of OMA
  • Location

    Meent 119, 3011 JH Rotterdam, The Netherlands
  • Project Year

    2015
  • Photographs

    Ossip van Duivenbode, Courtesy of OMA
  • Area

    43370.0 m2
  • Local Architect

    Abt
  • Process Management

    Brinkgroep BV
  • Structural Engineer

    Pieters Bouwtechniek Delft
  • MEP Engineer

    Deems Raadgevende ingenieurs
  • Sustainability, Building Physics, and Fire Consultant

    DGMR
  • Cost Consultant

    Abt
  • Competition 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 Zivkovic
  • Competition Engineering, Structural and Installations

    ABT: Rob Nijsse, Gyuszi Florian, Niek Kunnen, Harry Pasterkamp, Jeroen ter Haar
  • Competition Sustainability Consultants

    Werner Sobek Green Technologies: Heide Schuster, Lara Burmeister
  • Competition Cost Consultants

    PRC: Ben Kersten, Marjan Pebbelman
  • Competition Model

    OMA
  • Competition Model Photography

    Frans Parthesius
  • Competition 3D Renderings

    OMA
  • Partners In Charge

    Rem Koolhaas, Reinier de Graaf
  • Associate

    Alex de Jong
  • Project Team

    Philippe Braun, Clarisa Garcia Fresco, Maaike Hawinkels, Andrew Linn, Takeshi Murakuni, Peter Rieff, Tom Tang, Sakine Dicle Uzanyayla, Mark Veldman
  • Interior Team

    Saskia Simon, Andrea Giannotti, Ross O'Connell, Mafalda Rangel, Lucia Zamponi, Grisha Zotov
In Progress: Stadskantoor / OMA - Windows, Facade, Cityscape
© Ossip van Duivenbode

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.

In Progress: Stadskantoor / OMA - Windows, Glass, Facade
© Ossip van Duivenbode

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 Progress: Stadskantoor / OMA - Windows, Cityscape, Facade
© Ossip van Duivenbode

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.

In Progress: Stadskantoor / OMA - Windows
© Ossip van Duivenbode

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.

In Progress: Stadskantoor / OMA - Windows, Cityscape, Facade
© Ossip van Duivenbode

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. 

In Progress: Stadskantoor / OMA - Windows, Cityscape, Facade, Glass
© Ossip van Duivenbode
In Progress: Stadskantoor / OMA - Cityscape
© Ossip van Duivenbode

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.

In Progress: Stadskantoor / OMA - Cityscape, Facade
© Ossip van Duivenbode

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."

In Progress: Stadskantoor / OMA - Windows, Cityscape
© Ossip van Duivenbode

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Project location

Address:Meent 119, 3011 JH Rotterdam, The Netherlands

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Location to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.
About this office
Cite: Sadia Quddus. "In Progress: Stadskantoor / OMA" 26 Oct 2014. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/561465/in-progress-stadskantoor-oma> ISSN 0719-8884

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