Rotterdam in development

104 R O T T E R D A M I N D E V E L O P M E N T | 2 0 1 8 atendrecht has become an amazing success story, but when it began in 2005 the redevelopment of this troubled harbour district looked like a big risk. “The Municipality of Rotterdam wouldn’t approve a big restructuring plan. It was a bad time,” says Christiaan Cooiman, Development Manager at Heijmans. Cooiman was closely involved in the new Katendrecht from the start. In addition to the large portfolio of existing social housing, this run-down harbour district was littered with abandoned wharves and commercial sites. What kind of homes should be built there? “An earlier plan had suggested apartment blocks. Our vision was for the existing quality of Katendrecht, situated near the city centre, to be supplemented with unconventional ground-level homes, partly intended for families. The houses on offer had to strengthen people’s ties to Rotterdam, or attract them to return here. Rotterdam had to make sure that highly-educated people remained in the city. We were able to make a start on that in Katendrecht.” In close consultation with the municipality and the Woonstad housing corporation, the first new-build homes were realised: 34 ground-level homes and a community school, including a crèche and a gymnasium. “These were houses worth €300,000; no small sum.” And so the Parkkwartier came into existence on the Maashavenkade: 122 ground-level homes and a building containing 32 apartments, which also included a Chinese Christian church. ROUGH EDGES The community school was a crucial part of the plan: “In terms of facilities, the living environment mustn’t spend years as a desert,” Cooiman explains. That would have been very off-putting to buyers. One circumstance that further improved the project’s prospects was that, as planned, the municipality immediately cleaned up the public spaces – paving, lighting and green areas. The housing programme was underpinned by a third pillar: an influential PR campaign under the slogan ‘Can you handle De Kaap?’. “We haven’t swept the disreputable past or the well-known rough edges under the rug; we approached them as a fun challenge. Branding is important, right up to the present day.” BRIDGEHEAD Mooring the monumental cruise ship SS Rotterdam to the wharf has also definitely reinforced the neighbourhood’s image. The decisive factor for the further development was the bridge connection with the Kop van Zuid. “That gave us a literal bridgehead to a buzzing new part of the city.” In the meantime, various housing projects were getting off the ground and another avenue was being taken with the restoration of the architecturally valuable buildings on the Deliplein. This area attracted the controversial Theater Walhalla and extraordinary shops, cafés and eateries. EXISTING CHARACTERISTICS “Good area development is rooted in the context of that area,” says Cooiman. Area development is not just a series of buildings, but rather the (often) invisible cohesion between projects. You use existing characteristics; they inspire you. For instance, the architecture of the Parkkwartier was modelled on that of the monumental Scheepvaartkwartier. “You’re presented with that connection when you dive into history and discover that there used to be a ferry crossing (veer) between Katendrecht and the Scheepvaartkwartier. Hence the Veerlaan here.” Christiaan Cooiman