Project background: Study
Type: Mixed-Use
Context: Rotterdam, the Netherlands

Conradstraat Tower

The design is a response to the strategic ambitions of the city to build two new skyscrapers next to the central station of Rotterdam. The new zoning regulations, allow for one of the two skyscrapers to be built as tall as 180m. This enables the possibility of building one of the tallest towers of the Netherlands. The overall massing consists of a six-floor landscraper combined with a 42-floor slender skyscraper. Together the two massings will achieve a GFA of roughly 60.000m2. The podium will host both retail and office spaces. The program of the tower is exclusively reserved for housing. The retail podium is designed to connect to the transport hub and is accessible from both the ground level as well from the level of the station platform. 

The building is situated next to the monumental post-war ‘Groothandelsgebouw’ and the new central station building with its iconic canopy. The facade references the articulated facade of the Groothandelsgebouw with its use of depth and focus on human scale proportions. In order to not compete with the iconic station roof, the tower and landscraper facade become less expressive towards the bottom as they near the station. Brick is chosen as the main exterior cladding material of the building, giving the whole scheme a monolithic appearance. The facade consists of a variation of protruding windows and balconies. The windows start out flat towards the podium of the tower and become more undulating towards the top. The more undulating windows enable a wider range of views towards their surroundings and achieve a larger Gross Floor Area for the adjacent floors.