Market Hall Rotterdam
Finally open to the public from 1 October: the Market Hall in Rotterdam! Many superlatives have already been used to describe this building, and with good reason. What a wonderful new addition to Rotterdam! On the site where it all began for the City on the Maas, there now stands an iconic brand-new structure. Architect Winy Maas of Rotterdam-based MVRDV has succeeded, together with real estate developer ProVast, in creating a spectacular design.
Indeed, what more is there possibly to say about the Market Hall. Iconic, striking, a new point of reference in the Netherlands’ second city. The 40-metre-high arch can be seen from the far distance and is made from natural stone with windows. The glass frontage is anchored by steel cables supplied by Kampstaal, as are the grille walls in front of the car parking beneath the Market Hall. The Market Hall itself houses apartments across the full width of the arch. Half of these apartments look out onto the market! The temperature in the hall itself remains pleasant because the front walls remain closed.
All well and good, but what is a Market Hall without market stalls? The space that forms the entire raison d’être of the building needs to be the focal point of all activity. Market stalls that are not just functional and solid, but at the same time attractive. Nauta worked 300 tonnes of steel to create the versatile stalls. The company was responsible for the drawings, production and installation. It was not just the collaboration with the contractor J.P. van Eesteren that was again a great success, Nauta once again demonstrated its ability to work well with its sister companies. The stairways and the fences surrounding the stalls were produced and installed by Beijer Constructie, while the panels on the stalls is the work of Kamplacon. Kampstaal supported Nauta in producing the zinc-plated stalls. These market stalls not only all have a different design, they also have varying functions. From a terrace to a food court, and from fresh vegetables to doughnuts, you can get everything here!
All in all, the Market Hall is a fantastically exciting and distinctive design which has not gone unnoticed abroad, getting coverage in the New York Times and on CNN for example. Neither is its role unimportant. It is a new tourist attraction as well as being part of daily life for the people of Rotterdam. How wonderful would it be to live in it? A fantastic view, great location, and the new market stalls just below your apartment selling delicious fresh produce. A big city cannot take itself seriously without a Market Hall, reasoned Rotterdam, and then simply went ahead and created one. Rotterdam is daring, as the city has again shown!
