Centraal Station Rotterdam:
Light transparency for complex structures
pic_01.tif: At its highest point, the facade is 20.50 metres high. The lightweight, steel structure has to withstand enormous wind loads.
Client: ProRail, City of Rotterdam
Architect: Team CS – Joint venture between Benthem Crouwel Architekten, MVSA Meyer en Van Schooten Architecten and West 8 (© drawings)
Photo rights: Jansen AG; Kees Stuip Fotografie, Nieuwerkerk aan den IJssel/NL
Publication of these images is permitted only in conjunction with this project report.
Editorial matters: Anne-Marie Ring, BAUtext Mediendienst, Munich, Germany
Centraal Station Rotterdam:
Light transparency for complex structures
pic_02.tif: The southern station hall roof, rising to a peak and completely clad in
stainless steel, points towards the city centre.
pic_03.tif: The semi-structural glass facade stands in front of the steel columns of the
primary loadbearing structure.
pic_04.tif: Horizontal transoms from the VISS Basic steel profile system carry the up to 700 kg units of laminated safety glass.
pic_05.tif: All public accesses are fitted with automatic sliding doors.
Client: ProRail, City of Rotterdam
Architect: Team CS – Joint venture between Benthem Crouwel Architekten, MVSA Meyer en Van Schooten Architecten and West 8 (© drawings)
Photo rights: Jansen AG; Kees Stuip Fotografie, Nieuwerkerk aan den IJssel/NL
Publication of these images is permitted only in conjunction with this project report.
Editorial matters: Anne-Marie Ring, BAUtext Mediendienst, Munich, Germany
Centraal Station Rotterdam:
Light transparency for complex structures
pic_06.tif: Passengers have direct access to the underground from the large station hall.
pic_07.tif: The timber cladding and the reddish natural stone paving create a warm atmosphere.
pic_08.tif: The shop facades on the ground floor continue the construction principle of the main facade, ...
pic_09.tif: ... while the offices above have to satisfy an EI60 fire resistance requirement. They were constructed using the Jansen VISS Fire profile system.
Client: ProRail, City of Rotterdam
Architect: Team CS – Joint venture between Benthem Crouwel Architekten, MVSA Meyer en Van Schooten Architecten and West 8 (© drawings)
Photo rights: Jansen AG; Kees Stuip Fotografie, Nieuwerkerk aan den IJssel/NL
Publication of these images is permitted only in conjunction with this project report.
Editorial matters: Anne-Marie Ring, BAUtext Mediendienst, Munich, Germany
Centraal Station Rotterdam:
Light transparency for complex structures
CS-DO-OVT-DSEENN.pdf
CS-DO-SHC-GE-N-RR.pdf
CS-DO-OVT-PG04.pdf
CS-DO-OVT-PG01.pdf
Client: ProRail, City of Rotterdam
Architect: Team CS – Joint venture between Benthem Crouwel Architekten, MVSA
Meyer en Van Schooten Architekten and West
8 (© drawings)
Photo rights: Jansen AG; Kees Stuip Fotografie, Nieuwerkerk aan den IJssel/NL
Publication of these images is permitted only in conjunction with this project report.
Editorial matters: Anne-Marie Ring, BAUtext Mediendienst, Munich, Germany
Centraal Station Rotterdam:
Light transparency for complex structures
pic_10.tif
Facade detail with Jansen VISS Basic
3D_VISS-Basic_TVS-vertikal_K.tif
Client: ProRail, City of Rotterdam
Architect: Team CS – Joint venture between Benthem Crouwel Architekten, MVSA
Meyer en Van Schooten Architekten and West
8 (© drawings)
Photo rights: Jansen AG; Kees Stuip Fotografie, Nieuwerkerk aan den IJssel/NL
Publication of these images is permitted only in conjunction with this project report.
Editorial matters: Anne-Marie Ring, BAUtext Mediendienst, Munich, Germany
3D_VISS-Fire-TVS_K.tif
Centraal Station Rotterdam:
Light transparency for complex structures
The new Rotterdam Centraal Station is a bright, inviting and clearly laid
out transportation interchange in which passengers can find their way
around quickly and easily. Daylight entering through the glazed roof
over the platforms reaches right into the pedestrian area, and the
transparent facades provide views out into the adjacent urban space.
Rotterdam Centraal Station is a very busy transportation node: the
station is well-connected transregionally and locally, being on the
European high speed rail network and having one of the city's most
important underground railway stations below it. The previous station
could no longer cope with the growing traffic flows from these two
connections. The design of the new station and its environs stems from
Team CS, a joint venture between Benthem Crouwel Architekten,
MVSA Meyer en Van Schooten Architecten and West 8, which won the
design competition for the project in 2005. The joint venture design acts
as an interlocutor between the different structures of the parts of the city
to the north and south of the station building. On its north side,
Rotterdam Centraal Station has small-scale residential buildings as its
neighbours, while the south side connects with the larger structures and
thoroughfares of the city centre. The design of the station and
immediate surroundings reflects these differing atmospheres. For this
reason, the northern entrance has a reserved design, which is in accord
with "Provenierswijk", the adjoining urban quarter, which still has a
small-town air. In contrast, the southern entrance acts as a portal to the
city centre with its high-rise architecture.
Obvious clarity
The large entrance hall with its stainless steel roof rising to a peak and
the timber cladding of the interior lends the station its characteristic
metropolitan identity. This is also where the access to the metro lines
below can be found. The public space continues from the station hall
directly into the esplanade, which extends as far as the city centre. To
make this uninterrupted pedestrian connection possible, a parking
garage and bicycle stands were constructed under the esplanade and
the tram stops were placed on the east side of the station.
Rotterdam Centraal Station is particularly easy to navigate because of its
clear layout. All trains and station functions are contained in a space
terminated above by two roof surfaces: a transparent roof over the tracks
with a simple, greenhouse-like construction, and the special roof over the
station hall. On the side facing the city, this space is defined on three
sides by a facade that reaches a height of 20.50 metres at its highest
point. The 3000 square metre surface has to withstand huge wind loads
on the facade and roof.
Created with steel profiles
The way this facade was manufactured and installed is worth
highlighting. In contrast to the usual way of completing the works through
a general contractor, who would choose the facade subcontractor, who
in turn would select specific suppliers, the responsibility for the design
and construction of the facade as a lightweight, steel structure went to
the supplier of the glass units. Scheuten Absoluut Glastechniek, Venlo,
specialises in the design, production and installation of project-specific
special structures incorporating large-format glass units. Because of the
very heavy weight of the 270 cm wide, standard 174 cm high units –
weighing up to 700 kg – a steel profile system was selected for the
supporting elements instead of the architect's original choice of
aluminium. The actual system used for the construction of this projectspecific facade was Jansen VISS Basic. The steel profile system, which
does not require separate supports, can be used with any steelwork
structure.
Centraal Station Rotterdam:
Light transparency for complex structures
Loadbearing lightweight steel structure
The first step was to erect a primary structure involving steel beams
upon which the roof construction rests. Attached to these were the
horizontal transoms from the Jansen VISS Basic system, which carried
the laminated safety glass units. The secondary structure of 80 mm wide
and 160 mm deep steel profiles sits 190 mm in front of the steel beams,
with the result that the distance to the glazing is 370 mm. The glass
panels are simply butted one above the other vertically and sealed with
a fine silicone joint. The combined structural action of the primary and
secondary structures gives rise to an unostentatious facade that is
difficult to distinguish from a standard solution at first glance. In reality,
this project-specific special solution with accessories from a tried-andtested modular system, the Jansen VISS steel profile system, was
manufactured very simply, economically and above all neatly, as the
facade installer was keen to point out. The large automatic doors,
through which it was intended the public should enter, were integrated
into the design without any problems.
Interior: fire protection construction to provide EI60 resistance
The spacious station hall has all the necessary facilities for station users:
travel information, information booth, ticket office, automatic ticket
machines and shops to the sides. Above this level are rooms for offices
and administration staff. On the ground floor, the rooms have the same
construction of horizontal transoms from the VISS Basic system and
sealed vertical silicone joints. The interior facades above them were
designed to provide EI60 fire resistance. The company entrusted with
providing the fire protection glazing, ZNR Zuid Nederlandse
Ramenfabriek B.V., Rucphen, used the Jansen VISS Fire steel profile
system. Transparent fire protection glazing is particularly suitable in
buildings with a high public footfall on the grounds of safety because
visitors can orientate themselves very quickly, even within complex
building layouts.
The station operator predicts that up to 323 000 people will be using
the station every day in 10 years' time. The station offers these
passengers not only many functional advantages but also design
excellence, even though it has a completely different appearance to its
notably utilitarian predecessor. Making reference to the old station
today are the original letters CENTRAAL STATION on the main
entrance facade.
Contact for editorial matters
Jansen AG
Stefani Zemp
Industriestrasse 34
Postfach 220
CH-9463 Oberriet SG, Switzerland
Tel: +41 (0)71 763 96 72
Fax: +41 (0)71 763 91 13
e-mail: [email protected]
BAUtext Mediendienst
Anne-Marie Ring
Wilhelm-Diess-Weg 13
D-81927 Munich,
Germany
Tel: +49 (0) 89 21 11 12 06
Fax: +49 (0) 89 21 11 12 14
e-mail: [email protected]
Site board:
Client: ProRail, City of Rotterdam
Design: Team CS – joint venture between Benthem Crouwel Architekten,
MVSA Meyer en Van Schooten Architecten and West 8 Main entrance facade
(south facade): Scheuten Absoluut Glastechniek, Venlo NL Fire protection
facades: ZNR Zuid Nederlandse Ramenfabriek B.V., Rucphen NL Profile
systems: VISS Basic, VISS Fire, Janisol and Economy
System supplier: Jansen AG, Oberriet, Switzerland
Drawings: ©
Team CS
Photo credits: ©
Jansen AG
Use of these photographs must be in connection with the above project
report.