The Zalmhaven tower is the highest building of the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg with its 215 metres. The total complex consists of the tower and two smaller towers. The tower has 61 floors and houses 260 apartments, whereas the whole complex consists of 1.380 m2 offices and 950 m2 of services. In addition there is a view platform on top of the building in the original plans. The tower was built in 3,5 years and was constructed with prefabricated concrete panels to ensure the safety of the builders and to be mindful of the surroundings. The motivation behind this immense building is to provide more houses in a small area to compensate for tightness on the housing market. However these ideas also come with downsides such as the casting of shadows and the creation of strong wind currents. For these reasons, amongst others, the surrounding inhabitants protested against the construction. In addition the prices for apartments within the Zalmhaven tower can range from 600.000 till 5 million euros for penthouses and rents can differ from 1085 and 2195 euros per month.

Brain Teaser
How would you weigh the pros versus the cons in the design of high rise buildings for the tight housing market?

Sources
Hannema, K. (2022, May 26). De torens in Rotterdam worden talrijker en nóg hoger. Wat doet dat met het leefklimaat? Volkskrant. https://www.volkskrant.nl/cultuur-media/de-torens-in-rotterdam-worden-talrijker-en-nog-hoger-wat-doet-dat-met-het-leefklimaat~b9c658b0/

NOS. (2021, October 12). Zalmhaventoren nu de allerhoogste, maar té hoog om woningtekort op te lossen. NOS. https://nos.nl/artikel/2401319-zalmhaventoren-nu-de-allerhoogste-maar-te-hoog-om-woningtekort-op-te-lossen