BREEAM Excellent was the precondition
With a 128 metre tall tower, FIRST Rotterdam is a new highlight that marks the entrance to the city centre. Sustainability and future-oriented flexibility played an important role in the design. The building has BREEAM Excellent rating, a precondition for main tenants Robeco and NautaDutilh.
This has been achieved, among other things, through: Underground Thermal Energy Storage (UTES), solar panels, lighting control, balanced ventilation with heat and moisture recovery and CO₂ control, water-saving sanitation, charging points for electric cars and monitoring of sustainable performance. Flexibility is guaranteed through modular construction of the building services, so that changes and expansions can be implemented with no structural intervention. During the design phase, DWA sat with clients and tenants around the table to translate their requirements into technology.
DWA as co-creator
Managing Partner Arie Huisman: “Designing sustainable technology is naturally our starting point and is a minimum precondition in every project. Even more important, we go beyond technology alone and look across the usual boundaries, thinking from the client’s perspective. We also look at the assignment from a different abstract level. We help find answers to questions like: what do you want to achieve with the technology, how do you create added value for the user? As an investor, how do you guarantee that the building still meets the housing requirements of the tenants? If you can help clients and users find solutions to questions at that level, you are more than just a consultant – you are a partner, a co-creator. That’s how I see our role, and that was also our role in the FIRST Rotterdam project.”
