Kraaijvanger

The Swimming Center is a project that proves itself on many fronts. Technology, logistics, history and a well-chosen program fit together in an exemplary manner in a project that immediately proves its worth. (Jury Rotterdam Architecture Prize 2018)
The jury crowned it with an honorable mention for the Rotterdam Architecture Award 2018. (Image © Frank Hanswijk)
The jury of the Rotterdam Architecture Prize was enthused by the beauty of the design of Zwemcentrum Rotterdam.
"That it is right in the middle of a center and not just on a periphery, that it has a plinth that matters, where people were talking, the weird formal grid façade, which gives an indication of what happens behind it. together we got more and more joie in the design ", according to professional jury member Jacob Voorthuis during the award ceremony that took place on 19 December 2018 in the City Hall of Rotterdam.
From the Jury report: Everything is architecture
A remarkable building in this year's jury selection is the Zwemcentrum Rotterdam in the Zuidplein area. For several years, Hart van Zuid has been working here, a new city center for Rotterdam Zuid where social, cultural and commercial facilities come together.

Supervisor Masterplan
Kraaijvanger Architects plays a crucial role in this development as supervisor of the master plan and also designs from, among others, the Rotterdam Swimming Center. Perhaps the biggest strength of the Swimming Center lies in the location that the architectural firm itself could have selected in this case. The former sub-municipal office next to the Zuidplein station was a building of exceptional architectural quality that was already rooted in this area both in social and spatial terms. With the incorporation of a swimming pool as a new social function, this place could be programmatically strengthened while its history was also embraced. It is not the most obvious choice to place a swimming pool in an existing building. The additional design efforts that this entails because the swimming pools with structure, however, prove more than justified here.