With around a 100 apartments arranged over 19 floors in a somewhat bizarre shape, the new building set to change the skyline of Rotterdam’s port area resembles a giant flowering cactus. It is such an unmistakable resemblance that, to forestall any badmouthing and to leave no room for further interpretation, the designers, UCX Architects, have christened the tower block “urban cactus.”

However, Ben Huygen and Jasper Jägers did not get carried away with useless exercises in form. Their design is based on the need to give every living unit a large terrace/garden on two levels. This gave rise to the building’s circular form with the floor plans rotated with respect to one other. The project is the result of an analysis commissioned by Vestia Rotterdam Feyenoord/Estrade Projecten/Floor Oskam. Its aim is to meet the growing demand for quality housing with garden space in the city centre. E.S.

http://www.ucxarchitects.com



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