Ruland Architects, tailor-made advice

The term ‘plasbrand (pool fire)’, the combustion of a puddle of burning liquid, has kept all parties quite involved in the commissioning of the new retail unit in the Rotterdam North station building. The building was designed in 1960 by architect S. van Ravenstein. Modern fire safety and escape routes were not sufficiently guaranteed in the exceptional situation of a ‘pool fire’. Because the building is now a national monument, the necessary interventions had to be applied with care and preservation of the original design and image.

Ruland Architecten has been asked to provide the consultancy work, to the necessary design work and to consult with the various municipal authorities involved. With the installation of a new escape staircase and adjustments to the existing walkways and steel frames, the station building has been adapted in an appropriate manner so that it complies with current legislation and regulations.