dating rotterdam’s high-rise

8/14/2019 Dating Rotterdam’s high-rise

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NovaT rra / jaargang 4 / nummer 3 / oktober 2004 / 14

Over the years ‘Rotterdam’ has carefully

cultivated an image as a ‘city of architecture’.

But historic architecture is not Rotterdam’s

strong point. Few buildings were left

standing after the bombing and fire of

May 1940, and most of those were modern

buildings from the 1920s and 1930s.The city

had to rebuild its centre from scratch.

It seized the opportunity this presented to

experiment with architecture and urbanism,

which is why Rotterdam city centre now

contains numerous monuments or icons

from the modern or modernist period,sometimes referred to as ‘reconstruction

architecture’.

Discussions about the appropriateness of

high-rise buildings did surface from time

to time, but never reached a climax as it did

in cities with a historic centre. Tall buildings

are now generally accepted and most are

concentrated in the city centre. While

‘Rotterdam’ as a whole uses modern and

modernist architecture to promote itself,

tall buildings are an essential ingredient in

the profile of the city centre: the skyline

has become a true icon of the city.

In the last twenty years the city has

produced two guidance notes on tall

buildings. Its latest revision was

accompanied by the book Rotterdam High-

rise City, which, as is stated in the book,

devotes considerable attention to t he new

municipal policy on high-rise buildings,especially their historical context. This

semi-official history portrays a hundred-

year prelude from the late nineteenth

century (with the completion of the Witte

Huis in 1898) to the so-called ‘first wave’

of high-rise building in the mid 1980s.

This suggests that we are now on the verge

of a second wave, which will feature super

high-rise buildings.

If we take a closer look at what happened i

the early years of Rotterdam’s ‘century of

high-rise’ and try to read this episode as a

prelude to the current high-rise

developments, we run into difficulties.

Neither the height nor the location of the

‘tall’ buildings dating from this early period

relate to the new municipal policy on high-

rise. Although the first ‘high-rises’ were

relatively tall for their time, they fall far

short of qualifying as ‘tall’ by current

standards.Take, for instance, the HBU

building (1939), whose modest 40 metres isdwarfed by numerous buildings almost

twice this height. Even the GEB tower (1931

64 metres) is too small to qualify under the

current policy on high-rise, which applies

only to buildings of 70 metres or more.

We face similar difficulties when we look at

the location of these buildings. In the four

decades between the construction of the

The ‘Rotterdam’ version of the history of high-rise in Rotterdam portrays a ‘first wave’ of high-rise

building in the mid 1980s and an emergent second wave of super high-rise. However, if we

take a careful look at the evidence on the ground we arrive at a rather different conclusion, and an

interesting starting point for rethinking the city’s guidance on tall buildings.

Dating Rotterdam’s high-rise

berichten over een thema omtrent

hoogbouw in relatie tot meervoudig

ruimtegebruik

Frank van der Hoeven,TU Delft, Faculty of Architecture / Illustrations:Frank van der Hoeven

Lijnbaan,Lijnbaanflats and the tall buildings along the Weena.



GEB tower and the completion of Hoboken

(1969; 114 metres) almost all tall buildings

were built to the west of the city centre orin the western part of the centre. It was

only in the 1970s that the current high-rise

area in the middle of the centre began to

emerge.

a clear pattern

Let us take a look at some data to get a

better understanding of what is happening.

In ‘The Wonderful Hague Height’ (Nova

Terra 4(1) April 2004) we introduced the

scatterplot as an instrument for visualising

the development of high-rise in a city.

Such a scatterplot is a simple graph on

which the date of completion (horizontalaxis) and the building height (vertical axis)

of each tall building is marked with a single

dot. The beauty of Rotterdam’s scatterplot

lies in the clear pattern that emerges. Every

leap forward in the development of tall

buildings is announced by a frontrunner: for

every increase in scale there is one building

that sets the standard for the era to come, a

few bold statements in the development of

the skyline. These are the GEB tower (1931,

64 metres), the Faculty of Medicine of the

Erasmus University, also known as ‘Hoboken

(1969, 114 metres) and the Delftse Poort

(1991, 151 metres). The Coolsingeltoren

(2006, 187 metres) could be the next in line

If the high-rise history of Rotterdam goes

in waves, these are the ones. Rotterdam’s

tall buildings are increasing in number and

height, each wave becoming stronger.

Current municipal guidance states that a

tall building is at least 70 metres high. This

makes 1969/1970 a true watershed. First,

Hoboken was completed (1969, 114 metres),

followed a year later by the Faculty of

Economics (1970, 78 metres). In the same

year the Euromas t was exte nded with the

addition of the Space Tower (1970, 185

metres). Tall buildings then sprung up in

various locations throughout the city, inheight ranging from 50 to 100 metres. The

barrier of 70 metres was broken, but although

there seemed no reason for turning back,

the construction of tall buildings came to

an abrupt end in the late 1970s. The city

council had imposed a moratorium on the

construction of office buildings.

‘Rotterdam’ is not eager to acknowledge

the fact that the first generation of ‘true’

tall buildings appeared in the 1970s. When

N ovaT rr / jaargang 4 / nummer 3 / oktober 2004 / 15

Scatterplot on

Rotterdam sky

HBU on the Coolsingel.

Tall buildings built between 1930 and 1970.



NovaTerra / jaargang 4 / nummer 3 / oktober 2004 / 16

people speak of a ‘first wave of tall

buildings’ they usually mean a later period,

starting in the mid 1980s. Looking back at

this ‘first generation’, it is easy to see why:

there is little a ‘city of architecture’ can be

proud of.This first decade of ‘true’ tall

buildings did not produce many beautiful

ones. Their architectural quality is mediocre

at best, exemplified by the PTT Telecom

building (1970, 51 metres), Europoint II and

III (1975, 92 metres) or the Hofpoort (1976,

95 metres). Even their contribution to urban

life is doubtful, since they are monofunctional

building schemes without any public

functions at street level.

But whatever the quality produced in this

period, it is in fact the first period to

produce a substantial number of buildings

over 70 meters tall. And for the first time a

significant proportion of these tall

buildings appeared within the current high-

rise zones. So, high-rise began properly in

the 1970s. The question is: why did thisdevelopment come to a temporary halt?

building freeze

One of the key elements of modernist

planning is dividing the city into different

zones limited to a single or just a few urban

functions. Within this framework, the city

centre is the employment and retail centre.

The outskirts and the suburbs are for living.

In the mid 1970s large parts of Rotterdam’s

city centre had been rebuilt along these

lines, but had become inhospitable. In the

daytime the city was busy, but after office

or shopping hours it was virtually a ghost

town.

Local politicians and the public demand a

livelier centre offering a higher quality of

life. The general feeling was that this could

be accomplished by getting more people to

live in the city centre. The construction of

offices had to be checked to make way for

new housing projects, although a full-scale

conversion from high-rise offices to high-

rise living was not feasible.The large

modernist housing estates in the suburbs

(built in the late 1960s and early 1970s) had

put a negative spin on high-rise living and

it was far from popular at the time. As a

result, the decision to freeze the construction

of offices in favour of housing brought the

construction of tall buildings almost to acomplete standstill. Only two smaller

residential towers were completed in the

years t o 1985 . Inst ead, the cent re was

littered with various low-rise housing

experiments.

But all things come to an end, even a

moratorium on new office blocks. After

years of rapid economic grow th the

economy slowed down in the early 1980s

and went into recession. The port, the pillar

of the Rotterdam economy for the last

century, was increasingly shedding jobs. It

was no longer possible to overlook the high

employment potential of the city centre.

Politicians changed their views on barring

office development and the construction of

office buildings picked up with the

completion of the WTC (1986, 93 metres),

the Maas (1988, 76 metres) and the

Willemswerf (1988, 88 metres). Since 1990

construction of tall buildings in the central

area has been in full swing: Weenatoren

(1990, 106 metres), Weenacenter (1990; 103

metres),Delftse Poort (1991, 93 and 151 metres

and the Robeco Tower (1991; 95 metres).

The number of tall buildings built since the

end of the ‘freeze’ was higher than normal,

mainly due to postponed demand. In our

opinion this fact alone does not justify talk

of a new era or ‘the first wave’. We havealready pointed out that the significance of

the 1970s as a n earlier wave is generally

overlooked. But perhaps more importantly,

there is little or no evidence of a significant

change taking place during the mid 1980s.

When office building picked up the city did

not stipulate any special conditions on

high-rise development. Neither do we see a

shift in the location of new tall buildings.

Hofpoortat Hofplein. Basisplan,mono-functional z



When we look at the architecture, we find

some (albeit anecdotal) evidence tosupport the idea that this period is actually

characterised by continuity instead of

discontinuity. The last office building before

the moratorium, the Coolse Poort (1979, 78

metres) was the work of Rob van Erk, who

also designed the first building after the

moratorium was lifted, the World Trade

Center (1986, 93 metres). Both buildings

have the mirrored glass facades so typically

of the late 1970s and 1980s, and they stand

just a few hundred metres apar t.

defining the second wave

Now we have put the start of the first

wave of high-rise somewhere around 1970,

the wave starting in the 1990s must be the

second one. This second wave is not just

defined by building height only. There are

indications that we are dealing with a new

trend. The periods before and after 1990/91display many qualitative differences relating

to urban planning policies, architectural

design, internationalisation and the actual

use of tall buildings.

In 1993 Rotterdam Municipal Council

launched its first tall buildings policy

(hoogbouwbeleid) in a structured attempt

to steer the development of tall buildings in

the city.The architectural quality of tall

buildings from the era between 1969 a nd

1991 is mediocre at best, and for almost

two decades was dominated by the use of

mirrored glass facades.The Delftse Poort

(1991) was the last design with such facades.

The quality of architecture improved and

designs became much more diverse.

In a parallel development, the architectura

design of such buildings finally became

international. In the preceding 100 years

no foreign architect had designed a tall

building in Rotterdam, with the exception

of SOM with their three Europoint replicas

(1975/1978, 92 metres). Since the mid 1990s

foreign architects have played a major role

in tall building design in Rotterdam: Jahn’s

Fortis Bank (1996, 104 metres), Renzo

Piano’s Toren op Zuid (2000, 96 metres),

WZMH’s Millennium Tower (2000, 132

metres) and Sir Norman Foster’s World Port

Centre (2001, 124 metres); and the list is

growing.

Finally, the differences in the use of tall

buildings. Before 1990, most were office oruniversity buildings. The first (partial) shift

to residential use was in the Weenatoren

(1990, 106 metres) and the Weenacenter

(1990, 103 metres).The market was a little

slow to adapt to this change, but the

Schielandtoren (1996, 101 metres) and the

Hoge Heren (2000, 102 metres) made the

breakthrough. Many proposals are now for

residential uses.


Weena with Weenatoren,Weenacenter and Delftse Poort.

Millenium Tower at Kruisplein.

Co ol se Po or t at th e B in ne nwe gp le in . W TC at t he Be urs trave rse .




guidance

With these issues in mind, Rotterdam

produced its first guidance on tall buildings

in 1993 as an integral part of the strategic

plan for the city centre. Formulating such a

policy document is a clear characteristic of

the second wave, and so it deserves a closer

look.

The 1993 guidance covers both urban design

and urban planning. The hoogbouwvisie

allowed tall buildings only along the ‘urban

axis’ formed by Coolsingel, Schiedamsedijk

and Erasmus bridge, along the Weena and

along the river Nieuwe Maas (Wilhelminapier,

Kop van Zuid). John Worthington (DEGW)

advised the city to treat its reconstruction

architecture along the boulevards with

care. He proposed a set back principle and

the city acted accordingly.

Concentrating all the new tall buildings

along this one axis seriously limited the

number of locations the city could provide.

Within a decade Rotterdam ran out of

suitable plots. In a further development,the city faced proposals for buildings much

higher than had been allowed so far. The

guidance provided no answers on how to

deal with the shortages of building plots

and the proposals for super high-rise: it was

time for an update.

Almost ten years later it was again John

Worthington who gave the city advice on

how to act. DEGW proposed keeping the

building heights along the river Nieuwe

Maas relatively low and developing two

concentrations of super high-rise at the

beginning and the end of the urban axis.

The river would then form a ‘valley’. One

focal point already existed: the Rotterdam

Central transit hub. The other had to be

developed at ‘Parkstad’. The ‘valley’ concept

did not make it into the new guidance and

as a consequence the Wilhelminapier

remained a prime location for tall and very

tall buildings; the option of developing

high-rise buildings at Parkstad was

included, though. In the end the guidance

contained both quantitative and qualitative

criteria: the high-rise zones in the centre

were expanded, but not much, and the city

defined three different types of high-rise

zone, each with its own height regulations:

– High-rise zones without height

restrictions (Weena and Coolsingel)

– High-rise zones suitable for buildings

between 70 and 150 metres tall

– Transition zones adjacent to the other

two high-rise zones

These zones should not be read as

locations, but as areas in which locations

can be found. The precise sites for tall

buildings will still be determined in the

municipal zoning plan. Among the

qualitative criteria used in that process

are public space, wind hindrance, living

environment, accessibility, parking,

flexibility, mixed-use, sustainability,

construction and place.

Rotterdam’s high-rise urban areas

In 2001 the economy stagnated. The local

real estate marketed dipped, especially for

office space, the wave of super high-rise

ideas cooled off and developments at

Parkstad never took off. The tallest

buildings currently built or planned range

from 120 to 160 metres and a re located

along the Weena and Coolsingel in the city

centre and at the Wilhelminapier in Kop van

Zuid. The construction of only one taller

building has been approved: the

Coolsingeltoren (187 metres, 2006). This

new tower might be a frontrunner in the

Rotterdam tradition, introducing the next,

or ‘third’, wave. It might not be. Buildings

over 80 metres are situated in the current

high-rise zones, while moderately tall

buildings between 50 and 80 metres are

spread over a vast area covering the entire

city centre. This last pattern matches the

reach of the city’s transit stations (radius

500m) rather well. Some smaller clusters of

tall buildings can be found to the west,south and east of the centre.

If we classify Rotterdam’s tall buildings

into three broad categories – ‘less than

80 metres, 80 to 120 metres and above

120 metres’ – we can outline Rotterdam’s

high-rise urban areas. Very tall: Weena,

Coolsingel and Kop van Zuid. Tall: a central

zone reaching from Rotterdam Central to

Official high-rise zones. Actual high-rise urban ar




the Wilhelminapier. Moderately tall: the

entire centre and some smaller clusters.

where do we go from here?

This is all history, but where do we go

from here? Looking back at Rotterdam’s

policies for tall buildings we could say that

the first guidance was too strict and the

second tried to tackle a non-issue: super

high-rise. The Rotterdam skyline has seen

a number of increases in scale, but these

were moderate, never ‘super’. The fragile

equilibrium between local soil conditions,

construction costs, the building code, the

way the municipal council determines land

prices, and the price people and businesses

are willing to pay for office space or housing,

change only gradually. So far they have

generated three characteristic heightcategories (<80m, 80–120m and >120m) that

could form a solid basis for a new guidance.

This new guidance should incorporate

the real lesson of t he building freeze.

This was not about high-rise, but about

monofunctionalism, about modernism. The

city centre needs to continue its development

into a lively mixed-use urban environment

with a higher quality of life. From that

perspective, guidance that focuses on the

question of where the two or three tallest

buildings in town should be is not going to

be very effective. It is unlikely that the

overall quality of the city centre will depend

entirely on the position of two or three

buildings, either positive or negative.

Instead of formulating a restrictive, reactive

policy aimed at very tall buildings, an

active, responsive approach towards

moderately tall buildings could offer better

opportunities to diversify Rotterdam’scentre: the importance of buildings

between 50 and 80 metres should not be

overlooked. Recent interesting housing

schemes in this range to emerge are the

Witte Keizer (70 metres, 2005) and the

Hoog aan de Maas (78 metres, 2006).The

area characterised by this building height is

vast and offers much more flexibility than

the tightly controlled zones along the city’s

main urban axis. And yet this wider area is

still well connected to the city’s transit

system and to important public spaces like

the Lijnbaan, Hoogstraat, Westersingel,

Schiedamsedijk, Goudsesingel, Blaak,

Westblaak, Rochussenstraat, Meent and

Witte de Withstraat. Upgrading the spatial

quality of these public spaces, improving

their relation to the transit system and

providing additional leisure and (food)

culture should all be part of such an

integrated tall building policy, firmly aimed

at attracting new inhabitants, businessesand institutions to the city centre.

Such a strategy relies on an active learning

approach at all times to help potential

investors and developers find suitable

locations and guide them through the local

bureaucracy. Instead of focusing on the

future height of the Rotterdam high-rise

urban area, it may be time to explore the

potential of its full historical width.

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summary

Analysis of Rotterdam’s tall buildings

reveals that every leap forward in the

development of high-rise has been

announced by a frontrunner that sets the

standard for the era to come. Three

characteristic height categories (<80m,

80 – 120m and >120m) define the zones of

tall buildings in Rotterdam. These could

form the basis for a new tall buildings

policy for the city. Instead of the currentrestrictive policy aimed at very tall

buildings, an active, responsive approach

towards moderately tall buildings would

offer better opportunities for diversifying

the city centre and raising the quality of

urban life.

Weenatoren and the Lijnbaan.

The wider and more flexible high-rise urban

areas in relation to public space.

dating rotterdam’s high-rise

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