Timmerhuis Rotterdam
With the realisation of the Timmerhuis, OMA and partners have revived the extraordinary ‘Stadstimmerhuis, a monument of reconstruction’. The design also provides the city with a new comfortable area to live in.
Transparency and sustainability are central to the design. The Timmerhuis is a connector, a meeting place for the city. In the literal sense its indoor passage directly connects the Coolsingel and the Laurenskwartier. In a figurative sense it provides space for people and Rotterdam’s existing initiatives: a place for residents, policymakers, retailers, entrepreneurs, cultural initiatives. And, of course, for the general public.
The building is divided into open ‘pixels’ (square blocks) out of which the building has been created, built up entirely out of a steel frame. In a way this forms a kind of ‘cloud’ of steel and glass that ‘floats’ above the ground and is placed against the existing building. The new part’s facade and shape complement the existing architecture by the contrast in materials and form.
Photos: Ossip van Duivenbode