High-Profile Architecture in the Wijnhaven area
The Red Apple
A splendid and spectacular building has been added to the Rotterdam skyline between Maasboulevard and Blaak. ‘The Red Apple’, commissioned by PWS Rotterdam to a design by KCAP Architecten and in collaboration with Jan des Bouvrie, is shooting up at the tip of Wijnhaven Island. It is a bright red 120 metre tall complex. A shining example of daring and high-profile architecture, which offers the occupants a view far over the Maas. The complex has a great deal of office and retail space as well as dwellings. Corsmit Raadgevend Ingenieurs, a subsidiary of Royal Haskoning, were closely involved with the building as consultants.
Corsmit is one of the top three in the Dutch construction world and also acted as consultants in the Wijnhaven area for the Harbour Village project (two tower blocks 70 and 85 metres high) and the Waterstad Tower (108 metres). In order to prevent the Rotterdam horizon on Wijnhaven Island from becoming completely ‘filled in’, the urban development plan stipulated that the slimmer the newly-designed towers the higher the project developers could go. ‘In The Red Apple you can see a number of structurally interesting elements.’ explains consultant Erik Middelkoop. ‘The residential tower doesn’t look like a ‘real’ block of flats. The architect abandoned the usual mix of open and closed outer walls. You don’t see any closed walls from whichever side of the building you look.’
Spaghetti wall
The Red Apple has a number of amazing characteristics. The ‘spaghetti wall’ is quite remarkable’. It got this name because the support structure in the wall literally winds upwards. ;With support structures it is usual to stack vertically.’ explains Erik Middelkoop ‘The fanciful spirals in the support structure don’t just provide stability, they also make it possible to use a lot of glass in the façades. Because of this all of the windows run from floor to ceiling and provide spectacular views. The lower main block at the tip of the island is the most complex part, with a large corbelled section and huge steel trusses in the outside wall.’
Complex project
‘This was a complex and challenging project for everyone involved,’ concludes PWS Rotterdam’s project manager Marcel Hogervorst. ‘Corsmit did the structural design and converted it into contract form. After that they acted as coordinating contractor and did the detailed engineering for all of the concrete. Daring builds like these ask a great deal of the consultant and the contractor and many a discussion took place about aspects of the construction. But the final result was worth it. You can only build these kinds of out of the ordinary, innovative buildings in places where people really want to live, because the price of the apartments is relatively high. Yet the demand for the apartments was so great that in the second phase rental apartments were also sold.’
Contact: Erik Middelkoop
+31 (0)70 394 93 05
e.middelkoop@corsmit.nl
