Meent, Rotterdam
View from the Binnenrotte market square
This project is a landfill proposal in Rotterdam. Important themes are continuation and detailing within the existing urban fabric, but big contrasts lie in wait as well. The programme is a mixture of apartments, a café and studio's, that attempts to answer to the already existing chique boutiques along the street.
At the crossing of a shopping street and a demolished railroad viaduct, overlooking the large open market space of Blaak, the site for this project has to meet many urban requirements at once. Though it is no longer recognizable as such, this spot is where the history of Rotterdam started. The Second World War left its terrifying marks, and the construction of the railway tracks did the rest. As an open spot, the site is currently in use as (and ideally suitable for) a street market, twice a week. But regulations force the market accomodations to move inside (the reason for the market hall by MVRDV), leaving at least part of the Binnenrotte square unused.
A steel frame continues the profile of the street
The project continues the shopping street along the Meent, conforming to the current building height of the neighbourhood (rather than copying the extravagant highrise further down the Binnenrotte square). The café recedes slightly from the street, forming a small sitting corner, but to maintain the regularity of the street profile, a steel frame continues the outline.
View of the front facade
The dwellings open up to a small inner court yard