Markthal Rotterdam: Innovation in the Urban Environment

Markthal Rotterdam is one of the most innovative and exciting mixed-use projects I have come across in a long time.  Developed by Provast and designed by architecture firm MVRVD, Markthal (Market Hall) has housing, offices, an amazing indoor food market and one of the largest parking garages (underground) in Rotterdam - all self-contained in a very unique architectural package.  

For an understanding of the scale and design of the project, here is a video:

The building has been designed as an extruded arch that fronts on one of Rotterdam’s pedestrian plazas.  The “positive” space within the arch contains the offices and apartments/condominiums and the negative space under the arch is the market.

Each end of the arch is capped with glazing that stretches 11 stories of the 12 story structure.  The underside of the arch has been embellished with an enormous mural that covers the entire 36,000 sf surface.

Opened in October of 2014, the 1 million plus square foot structure contains 228 apartments, a supermarket, over 100 fresh produce market stalls as well as food related retail spaces.

(All Images - MVRD)

Here is a time lapse video of the construction.  The engineering was quite a feat and there are better videos about how they built the foundation but they are in Dutch:

Bravo to an very well designed and innovative solution that adds to the urban experience. For more information, check out this article from dezeen Magazine:
MRVDV's Markthall Rotterdam Opens

Please leave me a comment and let me know what you think.  Could it work in America?

Hudson Yards: Two Year Time Lapse Progress

Here is a two year time lapse of the Hudson Yards project, the $15 billion mega-project in New York City.  See The New Heart of New York: Hudson Yards for a full description. How 'bout them apples!

And here is a conceptual view of how they will enclose the trainyard:


And finally,  here is an inside look at the fist commercial building under construction from the above video.

The New Heart of New York: Hudson Yards

(Images above - Related Companies)

They don’t call them mega-projects for nothin’.  Hudson Yards, has recently broke ground on the largest private real estate development in US History. The $15 Billion redevelopment project sits on the west side of Manhattan fronting the Hudson River between W. 30^th and W 34^th Streets (it is worth note that the Hudson Yards district from which this project is named is a much larger area).  

(Project Master Plan and Boundaries)

(Image of existing MTA rail yard)

The 26 acre parcel (the largest undeveloped piece of property in Manhattan) is currently home to the Metropolitan Transit Authority West Side Yard.  The plan is to develop the air rights over the sprawling rail yard and develop a mixed-use community consisting of 10 high rise towers (office and residential), a 750,000 sf mall, 14 acre park, cultural spaces, a hotel and a school that will eclipse 10 million sf of development. Although on a much more massive scale, this project has many similarities to BurnhamPlace in Washington, DC where air rights are being developed on that project as well. And although the train yard provides opportunities to start from scratch in this urban scenario, this project also has similarities to The Yards in DC as well.  Both have been chronicled in previous posts. 

Make No Little Plans: Burnham Place Announced in Washington, DC

(View Looking North)

(View Looking South with Capitol Building in Distance)

(Train Shed Looking Southwest)

(Interior View of Train Shed)

(Train Shed as seen from H Street)

Burnham Place was recently announced in Washington DC as the cornerstone of a Master Plan that includes over $7 billion of investment that will include upgrades to Union Station as well as the development of a new urban neighborhood atop the rail yard leading into the existing transportation center.

(View Looking North on First Street)

Plans call for over 1.5 million sf of office space, over 1,300 residential units, 500 plus hotel rooms as well as 100,000 sf of retail.  In total, the project will include over 3 million square-feet of mixed use development on 14 acres and will join together several adjacent areas of DC that had been severed for years by the 20 rail lines that run to and into the station.

(H Street Plaza)

Akridge is the developer for the project and the design team includes AECOM (rail and transit engineers), Thornton Tomasetti(structural engineer), HOK (lead architect for Amtrak’s Master Plan), and Parsons Binckerhoff (lead engineer for Amtrak’s Master Plan). 

Brickell CitiCentre Breaks Ground

Developer Swire Properties recently celebrated the ground-breaking for Brickell CitiCentre, a massive mixed-use project on 9.1 acres in downtown Miami.  Billed as “the largest private sector venture of its kind in Miami history” in their press release, the project certainly has all the stats to make that statement believable.

The project is a $1.05 billion investment built in two phases; Phase I will be completed in 2015 and include the following elements:

·        520,000 sf of retail on three levels.  Store mix includes mainstream mall stores as well as a department store, luxury goods, as well as restaurant and entertainment venues.

·        A 265 room hotel with 85 serviced apartments for extended stays

·        Two 42 story condominium towers each with 800 units

·        A wellness center

·        Two levels of underground parking for 3,100 vehicles

·        Two 120,000 sf, 8 story office towers

·        Redesign of the Eighth Street Metromover station which will be incorporated into the complex

Phase II will be completed in 2018 and will include a second office tower of approximately 700,000 sf.


The project will be located just west of Brickell Avenue between SW 6th Street and SW 8th Street.

(Image from Biz Journals)

(Project Area for Brickell CitiCentre)

(All Renderings © Arquitectonica)

Designed by Miami based Arquitectonica, the open-air urban mixed-use project is expected to be a catalyst for other development since its announcement last year.  In addition, the project is expected to have a significant long-term economic impact on Miami and Dade county through annual property taxes, permit and impact fees, as well as retail and bed taxes.  For a review of the report authored by the Miami Economic Associates, Inc. in April of 2011, see the Development Impact Study that details the entire estimated $1.0 billion economic impact.