Architecture graduates develop solutions for vacant offices in Rotterdam
23 February 2012 by Marketing & Communicatie
In collaboration with the ‘Veldacademie’, graduates taking the Master’s track Architecture and Real Estate and Housing TU Delft Faculty of Architecture have developed a plan and conversion strategy for a concrete question from practice: a large empty office building in the city centre of Rotterdam.
On 16 February, their final report was presented to the head of Urban Development for the City of Rotterdam.
Two conversion scenarios
On 16 February 2012, students, together with the Veldacademie and their Faculty of Architecture supervisors Hilde Remoy, Theo van de Voordt and Peter Jong, presented their final report ‘Office transformation De Boompjes 60-68. In the report, different scenarios for the transformation of the empty office building were made and eventually presented to the City of Rotterdam’s head of Urban Development. Both market parties as the Rotterdam Urban Development department were very excited about the plans.
New purpose and value for the city
Students developed a plan and strategy for an empty 10,000m2 building located on the Boompjes 60-68 in the city centre of Rotterdam. They reviewed the potential, opportunities and characteristics of the whole area as well. Afterwards, the students designed several different programme-based concepts which were also made compatible with urban policy programmes. The programmatic review concerned the themes of housing, (health)care, services and knowledge development. The effects of the various scenarios were assessed in terms of social value flows (method developed by Arcadis), which gave the students insight into the added value of each scenario for the area, the city and its residents.
Empty offices in Rotterdam
Chronically empty office buildings in the centre of Rotterdam pose an increasing problem. Conversion of these buildings could add new functions that might well render a positive contribution to both urban life and the economy. Rotterdam Urban Development department and several market players recently signed a covenant to tackle the problem together. Arcadis, TU Delft, the Veldacademie and Markus Makelaardij (Edwin Markus), have committed themselves substantively to come in grip with the empty office-building problem based on.
Veldacademie and empty offices
At the Veldacademie, students from TU Delft, Erasmus University Rotterdam and different higher educational institutions work on real-life assignments in the district and the city. The Veldacademie focuses on enabling students from different disciplines to work on an actual project in Rotterdam. During the next years, the Veldacademie and students from TU Delft Faculty of Architecture will commit themselves to tackle this concrete problem of empty offices.
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