Beurs World Trade Center, Rotterdam Netherlands


 
Rob van Erk designed the office tower for the Beurs World Trade Center in Rotterdam, completed in 1987. At 93m tall, it contains about 200 office spaces. This was inserted into the middle of a 1940 office building by J. F. Staal and Margaret Staal-Kropholler, which was completed just before the invasion of Germany in World War two.

Mecannoo recently renovated the interior of the low-rise Modernist building and the modern skyscraper. They exposed original structure and design features that had been covered up and routed circulation to one central lobby.

The skyscraper’s parabolic shape reflects the massive gently arched trusses inside, as seen today in the conference hall. It is also a welcome departure from the boring boxy exterior of the original building. The gridded window design is still boring though.

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(featured image by Wikifrits on wikipedia/public domain))