Hamburg-based investor Garbe Group is teaming up with Dutch firms Volker Wessels Vastgoed and Synchroon in a development that builds on Rotterdam’s growing reputation as a city of cutting-edge architecture and design.
Hamburg-based investor Garbe Group is teaming up with Dutch firms Volker Wessels Vastgoed and Synchroon in a development that builds on Rotterdam’s growing reputation as a city of cutting-edge architecture and design.
Garbe Group signed a letter of intent with the Dutch partners at the Expo Real property fair in October to inject its 'stilwerk' concept - a themed retail centre for designer furniture and interior design - into the EUR 250 mln multi-functional Scharnier project in the Rijnhaven area of Rotterdam port.
'Garbe's contribution, the House of Design, is intended to be the heart of the project,' says Hans Borsje, regional manager at Volker Wessels Vastgoed. 'The House of Design must attract a lot of people to the Rijnhaven.' The project, based on the fundamental designs of architects Kossak + Partner and RHW Architects of Hamburg and dS+V, envisages a two-level car park topped by three levels of shops, restaurant, leisure and services space.
The central theme of the development is 'design, lifestyle and living'. Space is provided to trend-setting international retail formulas and there will also be showroom/conference facilities to bring together young Rotterdam designers and promote their work. The commercial facilities will be topped by five ‘free-form sculptures’ to house apartments and offices. The building will also have a park landscape giving the public a clear view of the area.
Alexander Garbe says he was initially sceptical about bringing the stilwerk concept - used in Hamburg, Berlin, Dusseldorf and Stuttgart - to Rotterdam. ‘But once I came to Rotterdam I was convinced.' Within a week Garbe Gruppe agreed to join Volker Wessels Vastgoed and Synchroon in the development. Job Posner of Synchroon notes the House of Design and Rotterdam are a perfect fit. 'The Scharnier project will also form the heart of wider regeneration of the Rijnhaven-Maashaven district which fell into disuse as the port business shifted further to the sea,' Posner said.
Posner and Borsje say that the local municipality is a keen supporter of the project which is due to start in 2004 and construction will likely last four years, as it draws on the city’s growing reputation for design and architecture. Rotterdam, Werner points out, has perhaps the highest concentration of design businesses in the Netherlands. Rotterdam's skyline also boasts more office and residential towers - many with innovative design - than any other Dutch city. The area around Rijnhaven, city planners hope, will become to be known as a ‘melting pot’.
Among the recent additions to the Rijnhaven are the Montevideo residential tower topped off by a large 'M' and the smaller but equally eye-catching Las Palmas which was originally built in 1953 for the Holland America Line.