Rotterdam 2014: Architecture in the Spotlights

The New York Times, Rough Guides and CNN all proclaimed Rotterdam to be a Must-See City in 2014. The primary reason for being awarded this honour is that this year will see the opening of three new architectural icons, including the building De Rotterdam, home to a design hotel fully equipped with all business meeting amenities.

Vertical City

Rotterdam was recently embellished by the completion of two architectural icons: the new Centraal Station train station and the De Rotterdam building. Their addition to the city skyline helped drive Rough Guides to award Rotterdam 8th place in its ‘Top 10 Cities of 2014′ list. The New York Times was equally impressed, listing Rotterdam in 10th place in its ’52 Places to Go in 2014’. The building De Rotterdam – designed by Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas and completed in late 2013 – is also referred to as ‘the Vertical City’: with its Floor Space Index of 32, De Rotterdam is the most densely built-up area of the Netherlands. The building houses 240 residential apartments and is room to 72,000 square metres of office space. Its underground car park can hold 670 cars. The lower floors of one of the three towers making up the building house Nhow, a new design hotel with 278 rooms and 9 meeting and event spaces, all with a spectacular view over Rotterdam. In addition, 1,500 square metres of floorage is occupied by restaurants and bars, 2,500 by sports centres, and 5,000 square metres by shops.  

Largest Work of Art

The Markthal Rotterdam, the Netherlands’ first indoor food market, is set for completion in October 2014. The building, erected as a horseshoe-shaped arch, will hold 100 market places, 15 food shops, 8 restaurants, 228 residential apartments, an underground supermarket, and 1,200 underground parking spots. The inside face of the arch will feature the largest work of art in the world: 4,000 aluminium panels covering almost 12,000 square metres will picture enormous, lifelike foods and delicacies. Occupying the very heart of the city, the new Centraal Station train station, with its ultramodern and futuristic architecture, has become an eye-catcher as well. King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands on 13 March 2014 officially opened the building, which is one of the largest train stations in the country: the station welcomes some 110,000 passengers each day – as many as Schiphol Airport. Direct public transport connections exist to the international airports Rotterdam The Hague Airport (10 minutes) and Schiphol Airport (26 minutes). In addition, direct trains run from the station to all major cities in the Netherlands and international destinations like Antwerp, Brussels and Paris.