The residential complex is located in the new Parkstad area - one of many that arose during the renovation of Rotterdam harbor; on the site of the Zuiderspoor itself there used to be a railway marshalling yard. However, parts of the city built in a short time often lack the individuality and multi-layered nature of the old districts that have been developing over the centuries. In Rotterdam, which was almost completely rebuilt after the terrible destruction of World War II, this topic is especially relevant, and the architects of Geurst & Schulze could not ignore it in their project.
To make the Zuiderspoor complex similar in scale and feel to the historic quarter, but to avoid direct imitation, the authors of the project have broken up its considerable volume (we are talking about 227 apartments, 32 townhouses, a 2-storey recessed parking lot, as well as offices on the ground floor residential buildings) into several parts: in the direction of the busy Lahn op Zuid street, five buildings with apartments are facing, united by a common podium. A series of townhouses overlook the quiet Parallelweg.
All facades of the complex are cladded with clinker - with the exception of the concrete surfaces of the podium. The buildings differ from each other in height, location and shape of balconies, proportions, but the most important difference is in the color and texture of the facades. This diversity, which is a reference to the rich Dutch tradition of brick building, immediately makes this recent building (completed in 2012) no less versatile than structures of a much more respectable age.
For cladding facades with a total area of about 20,000 m2, 1.4 million clinker bricks from Hagemeister were used: three varieties were used - red-brown "Lubeck", bronze-ocher "Gent" and sandy-yellow "Rostock". To emphasize the differences in the formal solution of different parts of the building, the architects used these varieties in different combinations. So, in one of the buildings, the surface of the facade made of Lubeck clinker is lined with blades from Ghent, in the other, the silhouette and recessed parts of the building are accented with sandy-yellow stripes of Rostock, the third is faced with Ghent, and only the edging of the windows is made of red -brown Lubeck. The variety of the facade, even within the same grade, is given by traces of a unique scale, varying from brick to brick.
The authors of the project paid special attention to the color of the seams: it also changes from body to body. For the Lubeck clinker, sandy-yellow seams were chosen, emphasizing the texture of each brick and the beauty of the masonry, as well as gray-anthracite - which, on the contrary, are almost invisible, allowing the brownish-red surface to look uniform. Light "Gent" and "Rostock" are combined with dark seams that accentuate the "character" of the masonry and its elements.
Thus, the Lubeck, Gent and Rostock clinker bricks have defined the image of the Zuiderspoor residential complex, giving it variety and versatility, as well as the atmosphere of a cozy residential area.
About the project: Architects: Geurst & Schulze architecten b.v. (Hague). Client: Estrade projecten, Proper-Stok Groep BV Rotterdam. Design: 2008-2009. Construction: 2010–2012.
Clinker: Hagemeister
Clinker facade area: approx. 20 000 m2., Sorting
Lübeck) WF (210 x 100 x 51 mm) 2WF (210 x 100 x 113 mm) 29 types of molded clinker (corners and more)
"Gent" (Gent) WF (210 x 100 x 51 mm) 5 types of molded clinker (corners and more)
Rostock WF (210 x 100 x 51 mm) 14 types of molded clinker (corners and more)
