The Groothandelsgebouw (meaning Wholesale Building or Offices) is an extensive building and monument in the center of

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

next to the Central Station of the city. Completed in 1953 it is one of the first major buildings built after the bombing of Rotterdam in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Because during the war much business was lost, there were early plans for new office space. The idea for a new building came from a wholesaler Frits Pot who realized that a rather large building would be smaller than tens of buildings of separate wholesalers. During Christmas 1944 he made a sketch and on May 4, 1945, it was discussed in the Chamber of Commerce. Together with architect

Hugh Maaskant Huig (Hugh) Aart Maaskant (August 17, 1907 – May 27, 1977) was a Dutch architect. He designed a number of notable buildings in Rotterdam, his home city, and in Amsterdam, notably the Groothandelsgebouw in Rotterdam in 1951 and the Amsterd ...

and (later Director) G. Thurmer he made a study trip to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, USA in 1947. The building is modeled after the

Merchandise Mart The Merchandise Mart (or the Merch Mart, or the Mart) is a commercial building located in downtown Chicago, Illinois. When it was opened in 1930, it was the largest building in the world, with of floor space. The Art Deco structure is locate ...

in Chicago. The final building fitted exactly in the vision of Rotterdam and the post-war reconstruction of the city. The Wholesale House was an innovative project for that time: the very large building was designed not only by many companies, but included a complete route through the building. During the construction phase in 1951 a grand cafe-restaurant, conference center etc. was installed. The building itself was completed in 1953. Characteristic of this building is a constant grid of concrete columns in which the building rests. Center-to-center distance of the columns is 6.72 meters. The columns are octagonal. Supporting the outer walls are approximately 65 inches, the inner columns are about 85 centimeters. The building has 5 entrances, marked with the letters A through E. The main entrance is located at the A station 45. The entrances D and E (sometimes called the back) are on Conrad Street. The building also lies on Weena Street. Exceptions to the constant grid of the wholesale building are the spaces created by the oblique lines of the building. These (imaginary) lines are about the length of the A wing and the imaginary line from D to C.

References

*''This article was initially translated from the Dutch Wikipedia.''
Indruk

Architecture.org

Huurdersghg
{{coord, 51, 55, 23, N, 4, 28, 8, E, display=title, source:wikimapia Office buildings completed in 1953 Rijksmonuments in Rotterdam