CONTEXT / URBAN PHYSICS

De Zalmhaven is situated within a dense urban context on the border of low rise and high rise in the city centre. Rotterdam has a big Urban Heat Island (UHI) problem causing the city centre to heat up during the summer days and radiate heat at night. Although the towers are situated close to the water and relatively near green parks the accumulation of tall buildings and lack of green ratio to buildings cause a lot of heat to be trapped between the buildings.

In this radiation analysis, the surrounding influence of the buildings is not taken into account. The map shown in fig.1 is based on the old situation before the construction of De Zalmhaven but you can already see that the plot has a high level of heat accumulation.

The south-oriented facade absorbs the most radiation which heats up the metal sheet cladding as shown in fig.2. In the first plan, the choice of cladding was concrete which would add to the heat accumulation of the building and contribute to the UHI effect. A lot of sun is directed at the flat roof of the apartments and parking garage. This radiation heat is reduced in the design by the roof garden situated between the towers.