Top architect Zaha Hadid launches construction of new Port House
Port of Antwerp. Antwerp Port Authority
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Antwerp, 10 September 2012 - The leading British architect Zaha Hadid gave the
official order to begin construction work on Port House, the new headquarters
for Antwerp Port Authority on the Kattendijk dock. The order was given in the
presence of the Flemish ministers Hilde Crevits and Geert Bourgeois, port
alderman Marc Van Peel and Port Authority CEO Eddy Bruyninckx. Once the new
headquarters is handed over in 2015 the Port Authority will overcome the urgent
shortage of space in its present headquarters. But beyond that the new Port
House will stand as a symbolic gateway to the port area. The actual
construction work will start on 1 October 2012 and will take 33 calendar months.
THE DESIGN
The new Port House is a two-part design, consisting of a dynamic beam-shaped
structure raised above the former fire station, a listed building which is
being restored and given a dramatic new role. The two components make the Port
House a volumetric composition that offers breathtaking views across the city
and its port. The superstructure façade is made up of glass triangles, each
slightly rotated with respect to each other, producing a constantly changing
play of reflected light. The unusual design also poses a challenge for the
contractors who will do the actual building work. For example, the
subcontractor responsible for the 1500-tonne steel structure, Victor Buyck
Steel Construction, has opted to build it in a modual way in six large parts.
These will be constructed in workshops in Wondelgem and carried to Antwerp by
barge.
FACILITIES
The new building will provide a workplace for some 500 Port Authority
employees. Some of the landscape offices and meeting rooms will be housed in
the existing building, the former fire station. These areas will be accessed
from the central atrium. There are also open-plan offices and meeting rooms
within the new volume, but in addition there will be an auditorium and a
company restaurant with a panoramic view. Staff and visitors will access this
part by panoramic lifts. Flemish minister Geert Bourgeois, responsible for Real
Estate Heritage, is full of admiration for the efforts made by the Port
Authority to preserve and repurpose the 90-year-old fire station, giving it a
new future while continuing to serve the public and the port. “The project
largely respects the material integrity of this historic building,” he
declared. The minister has granted a subsidy of 2.1 million euros for
restoration of the fire station.
INVESTMENT PLAN
Altogether the new Port House will cost 49.9 million euros. This investment
forms part of the wide-ranging investment programme of 1.6 billion euros
approved by the Port Authority board of directors in 2010. The financial effort
represented by this plan will ensure that Antwerp can further reinforce its
position as the second-largest port in Europe, and that Port Authority
employees will have the necessary resources to provide high-level service for
customers of the port. For example, in the near future the tug fleet will
acquire a series of new tugs, while the dredger fleet will acquire new hopper
dredging barges. “These investments are less visible to the outside world than
the architecture of our new headquarters, but they are just as essential for
our operations,” explained port alderman Marc Van Peel.
CONNECTION BETWEEN CITY AND PORT
“With the new Port House we have given a face to the world-class port that
Antwerp undoubtedly is. With its dynamic, ambitious and innovative design it
stands as a symbol for our port,” Van Peel continued. “From the new buildiong
visitors will have a truly impressive view over the city as well as the port,
so further strengthening the dialogue between the people of Anwerp and their
port.”
Flemish minister of Transport & Public Works Hilde Crevits added: “The new
Port House designed by Zaha Hadid will be a proud landmark for Antwerp. The
striking design will give Antwerp a wonderful architectural jewel that matches
its position and importance as a world port. Along with the MAS museum and the
new Port House, the new Antwerp Coordination Center will further consolidate
this position. In functional terms the new coordination centre will bring
together all the actors in the chain of shipping traffic management physically
together on a single platform, while the building itself designed by the
architectural firm of Neutelings-Riedijk will also be distinctive. Together,
these three landmarks will bind the city and the port close together.”
ZAHA HADID
The new Port House has been designed by the British firm of Zaha Hadid
Architects. Zaha Hadid is recognised all over the world as a highly influential
architect. After studying mathematics in Beirut she came to the Architectural
Association School in London in 1972. In 1993 Zaha Hadid Architects produced
its first building, a fire station in the German town of Weil am Rhein. Over
the past 30 years the firm has added numerous other remarkable buildings to its
list of achievements, such as the MAXXI museum in Rome (2009), the Guangzhou
Opera House (2010) and the Londen Aquatics Centre (2011) which featured
prominently in the recent Olympic Games. In her designs Hadid strives to
present a unity between architecture, landscape and geology, frequently
resulting in unexpected, dynamic architectural forms. The sensual interplay of
lines in her designs forms her personal signature. In 2004 she was the first
woman ever to win the Pritzker Architecture Prize, the “Nobel prize” of
architecture. She appears on the Forbes List of the world’s most powerful
women, and Time Magazine has added her to the list of the 100 most influential
people in the world. In past years she has won the “Praemium Imperiale” of the
Japan Art Association and the Stirling Prize, one of the highest distinctions
in architecture. Recently she was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the
British Empire.
PROJECT
Port House
LOCATION
Antwerp, Belgium
DATE
2008 / 2015
CLIENT
Antwerp Port Authority
PROGRAM
HQ Offi ce Building
ARCHITECT
Zaha Hadid Architects
DESIGN
Zaha Hadid
Patrik Schumacher
PROJECT DIRECTOR
Joris Pauwels
PROJECT ARCHITECT
Jinmi Lee
PROJECT TEAM
Florian Goscheff
Monica Noguero
Kristof Crolla
Naomi Fritz
Sandra Riess
Muriel Boselli
Susanne Lettau
COMPETITION TEAM
Kristof Crolla
Sebastien Delagrange
Paulo Flores
Jimena Araiza
Sofi a Daniilidou
Andres Schenker
Evan Erlebacher
Lulu Aldihani
CONSULTANTS
Executive Architect
Bureau Bouwtechniek
Structural Engineers
Studieburo Mouton Bvba
Services Engineers
Ingenium Nv
Acoustic Engineers
Daidalos Peutz
Restoration
Origin
Fire Protection
Fpc
SIZE
TOTAL FLOOR AREA
12,800 m2 (Gross)
114 m Length
24 m Width
46 m Height
(4 Extra Floors)
SITE AREA
16,400 m2
