This sixty-meter-high icon for maritime knowledge in the Port of Rotterdam (NL) zigzags upwards from foot to head like a periscope with two large windows, one directed towards the river and one looking over the port towards the sea. A pathway of escalators provides circulation in this vertical school. The low-rise part of the building contains special facilities: simulator rooms, restaurants, a media center, and sport facilities, while the broad, crowned, cantilevered conference room overlooks the Port of Rotterdam. The façade of blue- and silver-gray corrugated metal panels recalls the containers stacked in the port. Various patterns and finishes used in the interior evoke a maritime atmosphere: the red plastic walls of the conference hall recall life jackets, while the slatted benches lining the corridors and yards are impregnated with linseed oil.
