OMA has unveiled the design of Rotterdam’s Stadskantoor – an additional building for the city hall, accommodating public and administrative facilities and a residential program. The scheme for the city council includes municipal services, offices and residential units.
One of the five designs unveiled by Hamit Karakus, the city alderman at the Netherlands Architecture Institute (NAi) on August 31, 2009, the new building will be located in central Rotterdam behind the existing city hall and post office. The Stadskantoor features a modular structure with repeated units gradually set back from the street as they rise into two irregular peaks. Units can be added or taken away depending on need.
The brief requests a mixed-use building that will be the most sustainable in the Netherlands, and one that will incorporate an adjacent protected building from the 1950s. Working in collaboration with ABT and Werner Sobek Green Technolgies, OMA’s design adheres to the energy efficiency requirements and also considers the full lifespan of the building – from construction to manipulation to reuse.
The building is composed of a repeated and flexible structural system – a concept that delivers sustainability and a sturdy yet changeable, intriguing form. The highly insulated glazed building will also include green terraces for residential occupants and will store warm air in the summer which will be released in the winter and vice versa.
