Erasmushuis, Office building on Coolsingel, Rotterdam, Netherlands
The Erasmushuis is an office building in Rotterdam with twelve floors and a rectangular footprint, defined by white glazed brick walls and concrete balconies along its western facade facing Coolsingel street. The structure features a continuous bay window on the north side that houses both staircases and elevators.
Architect Willem Marinus Dudok designed this functionalist structure in 1939 as a modern banking facility in Rotterdam's city center. It survived the city's devastating bombardments in May 1940 and stands today as a witness to prewar architecture.
The entrance hall displays white marble walls and gold aluminum details, reflecting the banking sector's taste for modern design during the 1930s. These materials conveyed wealth and trustworthiness to visitors stepping inside.
The building sits between Bulgersteyn and Churchillplein and is easily spotted from the street thanks to its white facade and protruding balconies. Access is through the main entrance hall at the front, while the southern side includes emergency stairs connecting the balconies for safety.
The building survived the war physically intact while thousands of surrounding structures were destroyed, making it a rare fragment of prewar architecture in a completely reconstructed downtown. This survival gives it unexpected historical weight in a landscape of postwar rebuilding.
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