Rotterdam Centraal: Logistics tunnel
Photo: Jannes Linders

ROTTERDAM CENTRAAL

by Team CS

On 13 March 2014, the new Rotterdam Centraal station officially opened by King Willem Alexander of the Netherlands
Rotterdam Centraal
Location: Stationsplein 1, Rotterdam, Netherlands
Clients: ProRail, City of Rotterdam
Architect: Team CS: a cooperation between Benthem Crouwel Architects, MVSA Meyer en Van Schooten Architecten and West 8
Programme: Public transport terminal: Integral station roof, concourse and travellers’ tunnel, platform fit-out, commercial spaces, offices, restaurants and cafés and facilities for travellers.
Ca. 46,000 m2 gfa.
Start design: 2003
Start construction: 2007
Completion: 2013

Facts and figures: Daily number of travellers 2013: 110,000
Daily number of travellers 2025: 323,000
Area Rotterdam Centraal: 46,000 m2
Area urban design: 50,000 m2
Bicycle parking underground: 5,200 bicycles
Bicycle parking above ground: 1,600 bicycles
Car park Kruisplein: 750 cars
Wooden cladding ceiling South Hall: 23,000 m2 Western Red Cedar wood panels
Steel roof construction South Hall: 3,000 ton steel
Natural stone platforms: 27,000 m2 red porphyry
Natural stone concourse + South Hall: 9,000 m2 multicolor Red China
Natural stone public space: 16,000 m2 multicolor Red China
Glass in roof: 28,000 m2
PV cells: 10,000 m2
Number of PV cells: 130,000
Size LED screen South Hall: 40 x 4,5m

Posted 18 March 2014

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Team CS is a cooperation between Benthem Crouwel Architects MVSA Meyer en Van Schooten Architecten and West 8

Rotterdam Centraal is part of the European network of high-speed railway lines and a nodal point in the city itself. This dual relationship, with the city and with Europe, gives the station and the station precinct a special dimension. At Rotterdam Central, European travellers enter the Netherlands and Dutch travellers enter Europe.

The old station by Sybold van Ravesteyn, which consisted of a station hall, a pedestrian tunnel and open platforms, each with its own canopy, was out of step with current requirements with respect to size, layout and grandeur.
What was needed was a new station, designed as an entity: the station hall now runs from Proveniersplein on the north side to Stationsplein on the south – in other words, the 250-metre-wide platform roof forms a whole with the main concourse and the train travellers’ tunnel. The result is that from the moment of arrival, train passengers have the sense of entering a building.

Rotterdam Centraal: Glass roof Photo: Jannes Linders

The design for the station and the surrounding area was made by Team CS; a cooperation between Benthem Crouwel Architects, MVSA Meyer en Van Schooten Architecten and West 8.

A salient feature of the location is the big difference in character between the areas north and south of the station. To the north there is a residential area, while the south side is part of the central city. These differences in ambience are accentuated in the design of the station and its surroundings. On the north side, the station manifests as a transparent hall that matches the character of the late nineteenth-century Proveniers district. Major extensions were avoided here and the green landscaping was enhanced. The new station roof makes a modest and transparent impression on this side. On the city centre side the station exhibits a new grandeur that is in keeping with the dimensions of the imposing high-rise buildings that characterize the entrance to the city. Rotterdam’s urbanity is reinforced here by a metropolitan station architecture in which the building and the new station square merge. On this side, the station roof folds to create a welcoming and very spacious station concourse, which also provides direct access to the new metro station below.
With the trams relocated to the east side of the station square, the public space in front of the station now offers arriving travellers a genuine entrance to the city, free of criss-crossing traffic.

The new square extends to Kruisplein and from there to Schouwburgplein.
The enormous scale of the new station is mitigated by the choice of wood as
cladding for the gigantic roof. Rotterdam Centraal is a pleasant, open and transparent public transport terminal which also functions as a meeting point. Interweaving in the urban network the station connects the various characters of the city and marks the beginning of the cultural axis. This modern and efficient building offers all the amenities and comfort for the present and future travellers to and from the port city.

The new Central Station of Rotterdam, Rotterdam Centraal, is re-anchored in the city centre and integrated in the European network of transport hubs. A Grand Station of international standing has been created.

In the spacious concourse the passenger service functions are conveniently arranged. The skylights through rectangular slots provide diffused natural daylight. The positioning of these skylights creates different light intensities.
The roof of the hall, fully clad with stainless steel, gives rise to the building’s iconic character and points to the heart of the city.


Rotterdam Centraal by Team CS The tram station has been moved to the east side of the station, so the platforms broaden the square. Bus, tram, taxi and the short-term parking area are integrated into the existing urban fabric and do not constitute barriers. Now Rotterdam Centraal has the appropriate structure and dimensions for the urban landscape. The new more compact urban scale surrounding the public transport hub strengthens the city of Rotterdam’s connection to the new station. The different solar cells patterns on the glass plates of the roof vary the level of light transmitted, which produces an ever-changing and fascinating play of shadows on the platforms. Travellers are guided by a direct view of the trains and by the daylight that penetrates into the traveller’s passage via the huge voids that extend through the transparent roof platform and down to the stairs.		Rotterdam Centraal The wood finish on the interior of the hall, combined with the structural wooden beams of the platform roof create a warm and welcoming ambience, inviting visitors to linger. Here a LED screen of 40 x 4.5 meters has been installed.


Centraal Station Photo: Jannes Linders		Proveniersplein Side Roof across the tracks Overview History South Hall Kruisplein The entrance on the north side has a modest design, appropriate to the character of the neighborhood Provenierswijk and the smaller number of passengers. The entrance gradually connects to the city. In the Provenierswijk the character of the 19th-century Dutch provincial town is strengthened. Large architectural extensions are avoided on this side of the station, the presence of green is ameliorated and the station is transparent. Windows with 130,000 solar cells cover 10,000 m2 of the 28,000 m2 of roof area. This is the largest application of solar energy on a station roof in The Netherlands and is also one of the largest solar rooftop projects in Europe. The solar cells are placed on the parts of the roof that get the most sun, taking into account the high buildings around Rotterdam Centraal. The solar cells represent an 8% reduction in the station’s CO2 emissions.


The layout of Rotterdam Centraal is extraordinarily clear. This is achieved through a strong planning concept: the trains and all functions of the station are all found within one space. This space consists of two grand segments: the large and transparent platform roof structure which spans the rail tracks; and the spectacular form of the main entrance hall roof, constructed from steel, fully clad with stainless steel and featuring a beautiful wooden inner frame. This huge roof structure with extensive span is only supported by two column supports located points deep in the walls of the metro tunnel. The former station was designed by Sybold van Ravesteyn in 1957. In order to maintain the connection with the past several characteristic elements from the former station are re-installed in the new Rotterdam Centraal. The ‘Speculaasjes’ (‘Cookies’ in Dutch), two unique granite sculptures, can be found within the station while the letters ROTTERDAM CENTRAAL and the original station clock are proudly displayed on the current façade as a tribute to the past. In the spacious station main hall all the essential functions a traveller requires can be found; the passengers information desk, NS-travellers’ shop, tickets vending machines and other commercial functions are all in prominent locations.		Rotterdam Centraal Photo: Jannes Linders

Rotterdam Centraal: Roof of solar cells Photo: Jannes Linders

The Grand Café and the NS lounge on the upper floor offer a spectacular outlook over the hall and the rail tracks.
The triangular skylights through rectangular slots provide diffused natural daylight which illuminates the hall. The positioning of these skylights creates different light intensities.
The esplanade and the Kruisplein in front of the station is a continuous public space. To achieve this spatial simplicity a parking garage for 750 cars and a bicycle shed for 5,200 bicycles are located under the Kruisplein. The red stone of the station floor continues into the forecourt, merging the station with the city.

The wood finish on the interior of the hall, combined with the structural wooden beams of the platform roof create a warm and welcoming ambience, inviting visitors to linger. Here a LED screen of 40 x 4.5 meters has been installed.
Travellers can enjoy views of Europe’s largest port at all hours and times of the day.

Photography: Jannes Linders Aerial photography: Skeyes Design: Reynoud Homan icw Martijn de Wilde
www.benthemcrouwel.nl
www.mvsa.nl
www.west8.nl