Info: Team CS
Photography: Jannes
Linders; courtesy Benthem Crouwel Architekten
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The new Central
Station of Rotterdam is an interesting yet simple exercise in distinctly metropolitan
station architecture.
At Rotterdam
Central, the old station by Sybold van Ravesteyn, which consisted of a station
hall, pedestrian tunnel and open platforms, each with its own canopy, was out
of step with current requirements with respect to size, layout and grandeur.
What was needed was a new station, designed as an entity: the station hall now
runs from Proveniersplein on the north side to Stationsplein on the south – in
other words, the 250-metre-wide platform roof forms a whole with the main
concourse and the train travellers’ tunnel. The result is that from the moment
of arrival, train passengers have the sense of entering a building.
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The station and
its surrounds are designed by Team CS - cooperation between Benthem Crouwel
Architects, MVSA Meyer en Van Schooten Architecten and West 8, who have
maximized the stark difference in
character north-to-south of the station to create a discerning environment at
each end.
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Towards the
north, which opens to a residential area, the station manifests as a
transparent hall that matches the character of the late nineteenth-century
Proveniers district. Major extensions are avoided here and the green
landscaping is enhanced. The new station roof makes a modest and transparent
impression on this side.
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Towards the
south, on the city centre side, the station exhibits a new grandeur that is in
keeping with the dimensions of the imposing high-rise buildings that
characterize the entrance to the city. Here, the building and the new station
square merge and the imposing station roof folds to create a welcoming and very
spacious station concourse, which also provides direct access to the new metro
station below.
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With the trams
relocated to the east side of the station square, the public space in front of
the station now offers arriving travellers a genuine entrance to the city, free
of criss-crossing traffic. The enormous
scale of the new station is mitigated by the choice of wood as cladding for the
gigantic roof.
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