ODA Completes 150-Meter POST Tower Atop Rotterdam's Historic Central Post Office
The POST tower, completed in May, stands 150 meters tall adjacent to the west wing of Rotterdam's central post office, a unique original structure from the post-World War II era. Situated on Coolsingel Avenue, the building had been dormant for 15 years prior to its acquisition by a private developer. ODA's vision incorporates a mixed-use tower, conceptualizing the post office as a community "beehive." To make way for the tower, the walls of the west wing were removed. The double-skin facade merges modern and pre-war Dutch architectural styles, highlighting aspects of lightness and porosity, with segmented arches and a unitized curtain wall featuring triple-laminated glass. This tower marks the initial phase of a three-part project aimed at revitalizing the central post office, with ODA founder Eran Chen commending the collaboration between public and private sectors.
Key facts
- ODA completed the 150-meter-tall POST tower in May, rising from the west wing of Rotterdam's central post office.
- The post office, one of Rotterdam's few remaining original structures after World War II, had been out of service for 15 years before the city sold the parcel to a private developer.
- ODA negotiated with the city to demolish the west wing's walls, a later addition, to make room for the tower.
- The double-skin facade follows three principles: keynoting, lightness, and porosity, with arches referencing City Hall and church-arched dormers.
- GFRC was chosen over limestone for the exoskeleton due to ease of installation; each five-meter arch was segmented into three cast pieces.
- Extensive wind tunnel simulations and physical mega-mockup testing informed the facade's irregular terrain, which traps and dissipates wind for pedestrian comfort.
- The unitized curtain wall features triple-laminated glass in natural anodized aluminum frames, with operable windows and passive shading from recessed arches.
- The POST tower is the first of three phases to re-establish the central post office as a hub for residents and day-trippers.
Entities
Artists
- Eran Chen
- Ossip van Duivenbode
- Gustav Cornelis Bremer
- Andrew Campion
Institutions
- ODA
- ABT
- Omnam Group
- Pieters
- BESIX
- Metal Yapı
- Anired Group
- Braaksma & Roos Architectenbureau
- Dezeen
- designboom
Locations
- Rotterdam
- Netherlands
- Coolsingel Avenue
- Coolsingel district
- Coolsingel
- Meent
- Rodezand