Rotterdam Architecture – Our Top 8 Buildings You Must See

A dynamic port with a fabled seafaring history, Rotterdam is also a cosmopolitan metropolis with an iconic city skyline showcasing an array of innovative modern architecture.

Offering a wealth of artistic, cultural and culinary experiences, and home to a diverse, multicultural population, Rotterdam is an exciting, energising destination. Multiple maritime routes offering extensive worldwide connections make the Netherlands' second largest city an international gateway that, enhanced by logistics innovations, has grown into an economic powerhouse and Europe's biggest seaport. The city's strategic location also proved to be its downfall in World War II. During the German invasion of the country in 1940, Rotterdam was subjected to catastrophically heavy bombing. Countless lives were lost and the city's medieval centre was virtually entirely destroyed. After the war, rather than attempting to rebuild what was gone, the city of Rotterdam instead made the decision to totally reinvent itself.

Rotterdam architecture and cultural identity

Even before the war, Rotterdam was architecturally progressive. The Nieuwe Bouwen movement and its central principles of simplicity and functionality were already present in the city, especially in its quest to create innovative social housing – pleasant living environments with shared facilities and outdoor spaces. Breaking with the past, post-war reconstruction was characterised by light and space – wide streets, open layouts and modern architecture. High-rise buildings started to feature in the Rotterdam skyline, and in the 1970s Dutch architects such as Piet Blom began to gradually transform the city centre. The completion of the spectacular Erasmus Bridge in 1996 boosted the redevelopment of the Kop van Zuid docklands area that's now an integral part of the architecturally exhilarating Rotterdam of today.

 

The city continues to develop its cultural identity as a world capital of contemporary architecture and design, driven forward by world-class Rotterdam architecture firms such as MVRDV, founded by Winy Maas, Nathalie de Vries and Jacob van Rijs, and OMA, established by architectural luminary Rem Koolhaas. Our introduction to Rotterdam's famous architecture will help you discover eight of the most extraordinary buildings and structures in this unmissable city.

The most iconic structures in Rotterdam's architectural landscape

Rotterdam Centraal

If you're travelling by train, you can start appreciating the landmarks of Rotterdam architecture immediately upon your arrival. As one of the most important national and international transport hubs, Rotterdam Centraal station was completely reconstructed over a seven-year period before reopening in 2014, to ensure it could handle ever-increasing numbers of daily commuters and trains. The expansive concourse is flooded with light through high glass walls in the natural wood-lined entrance hall, which opens onto the forecourt. From here you enjoy fantastic views of the front façade and the gleaming station canopy projecting a V-shaped corner from the titanium-clad roof pointing towards central Rotterdam – a gateway to the city encapsulating remarkable Rotterdam architecture style.

 

Stationsplein 2, 3013 AJ Rotterdam

Timmerhuis

Housing offices, shops and apartments in the heart of Rotterdam, the multifunctional Timmerhuis building complex gracefully symbolises the city’s post-war reconstruction and transformation. Occupying an area that was completely destroyed in 1940, it successfully merges an L-shaped, ‘50s municipal brick-built office block into its contemporary steel and glass structure, while also integrating seamlessly with the architecture of the surrounding existing buildings. The new complex, completed in 2015 to a design by OMA, features repeated modular units gradually receding from the street as they rise up into two irregular towers. With the highest BREEAM rating for green building certification, the Timmerhuis is one of the most sustainable mixed-use buildings in the Netherlands. Appreciate its dramatic, complex form from the corner of Raamplein and Haagseveer, before enjoying a coffee and a bite to eat in one of the several cafés and restaurants on the building’s ground floor.

 

Halvemaanpassage 1, 3011 AH Rotterdam. Metro lines D or E to Stadhuis

Cube Houses of Rotterdam

Envisaged by Dutch architect Piet Blom as a cluster of architectural trees making up a peaceful forest away from the city centre, the Rotterdam Cube Houses are perhaps the most distinctive architectural development in the city. Built from 1982-1984, the 38 compact dwellings each consist of a tilted cube supported by a hexagonal pillar, with three sides facing down to the ground and three up to the sky. The triangular living space, kitchen, bathroom and two bedrooms inside occupy three floors connected by steep staircases. See what it's like to live amid slanted walls inside a crazily inclined cube, and get an insight into the philosophy behind the Cube Houses of Rotterdam's architecture, with a visit to the fully furnished Show-Cube museum house. Fancy staying in a modern hotel nearby? The comfortable, harbourside ibis Rotterdam City Centre is less than a 10-minute walk away.

 

Overblaak 70, 3011 MH Rotterdam. Metro lines A, B or C to Blaak. Open daily 11am-5pm.

Erasmus Bridge

Named after the 15th-century humanist and scholar Erasmus of Rotterdam, the 808-metre long Erasmus Bridge spans the Maas River, linking the city centre with the redeveloped Kop van Zuid docklands area. A cable-stayed bridge designed by Ben van Berkel, the landmark structure’s elegant, 139-metre-high white pylon secured by 18 pairs of cables has earned the bridge its nickname, ‘The Swan’. The tallest in the Netherlands, the bridge has become symbolic of the port city of Rotterdam since opening in 1996. Our tip: to see it at its most impressive, view the Erasmusbrug at night when it's spectacularly illuminated.

Witte Huis

One of the few buildings in central Rotterdam to remain standing after the 1940 bombings, the Witte Huis is an architectural marvel of the city’s Maritime District. Completed in 1889, this magnificent 10-story edifice was all the more extraordinary in its time. Standing 43 metres high, it was the first ‘skyscraper’ in the Netherlands and for many years the tallest office building in Europe. Inspired by the buildings in New York on a visit to the city, architect Willem Molenbroek, together with the brothers Gerrit and Herman van der Schuijt, decided to construct the building from a combination of iron, steel and concrete. Clad in white glazed brick, its remarkable exterior features striking Art Nouveau mosaics, handsome stone sculptures and majestic fairytale turrets. Fully appreciate its grandeur over drinks at a terrace table outside one of the several nearby cafés overlooking the Oudehaven (Old Harbour).

 

Geldersekade 1C, 3011WB Rotterdam. Metro lines A, B or C to Blaak.

Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen

Located in Rotterdam's Museumpark next to the museum for which it stores a collection, the Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen is a facility that ensures the museum’s treasures can continue to delight visitors while the museum itself is closed for renovation. No exhibitions are staged here, but you can wander through the building, independently or with a guide, surrounded by 154,000 artworks. Designed by the MVRDV Rotterdam architecture practice, the depot opened in 2021 and is as singular as the art experience it offers, taking the form of a breathtaking bowl-shaped building clad in mirrored glass that reflects its surroundings. Explore the depot’s seven levels of display cases filled with paintings, prints, sculpture and ceramics, before heading up to the leafy rooftop garden to take in panoramic city views.

 

Museumpark 24, 3015 CX Rotterdam. Metro lines A, B or C to Eendrachtsplein. Open Tue-Sun 11am-5pm. Admission €20, reduced €10.50, children and young people up to 18 free. Tickets, including a fixed time slot, are only available online.

De Rotterdam

Built on the River Maas and standing almost 150 metres tall, the three interconnected steel and glass towers of De Rotterdam astound with their sheer scale, audacity and magnificence. Presiding over the regenerated Kop van Zuid docklands district, this vertical city housing apartments, offices, restaurants and a hotel was designed by Rem Koolhaus of OMA and completed in 2013. At around 90 metres above ground level, the three towers shift several metres in different directions making a visually dramatic horizontal cut that also provides space for terraces and enhances wind stability. It’s easy to travel to Kop van Zuid by metro, but our favourite way to get there is by walking across the striking Erasmus Bridge while enjoying stunning views of De Rotterdam, especially at sunset when the enormous building appears even more monumental.

 

Wilhelminakade 177, 3072 AP Rotterdam. Metro lines D and E to Wilhelminaplein

Markthal Rotterdam

The huge arch of the Markthal Rotterdam is as innovative as it is visually arresting. Designed by local architectural firm MVRDV, the structure’s 40-metre-high arched roof covers the food market space below and houses more than 200 apartments and duplexes. The first covered market in the Netherlands, the complex also encompasses shops and a supermarket selling food and culinary products. Head over from your Rotterdam hotel at lunchtime to choose from a vast array of global cuisine on offer at the ground floor food stands. Look up as you lunch to take in the expansive, colourful mural of fruits, flowers and insects adorning the inside of the arch.

 

Verlengde Nieuwstraat, 3011 GM Rotterdam. Metro lines A, B or C to Blaak.

Coming architectural projects to look out for in Rotterdam

In the Rijnhaven harbour, floating construction is being realised in the form of the innovative Floating Office. Built entirely of wood, it's self-sufficient and sustainable. And a floating park is being built around it with lawns, trees and a city beach. On the Lloydpier, the SAWA housing project also features construction in wood, meaning that the buildings store CO2 instead of emitting it. Projects like these show how Rotterdam is dedicated to building a pleasant, green and healthy residential city, for now and for the future.