Fenix I is the winner of the National Steel Award 2020, in the Residential Building category. The ceremony took place during the National Steel Construction Day, which was organized virtual this year by Bouwen met Staal and Infosteel.
The biggest technical challenge of the building was the immense table construction of approximately 1 million kilos of steel, so that the monumental warehouse could be preserved as much as possible. The professional jury, headed by chairman Janneke Bierman, selected Fenix I from 116 submitted projects. The Pontsteiger in Amsterdam and Park Hoog Oostduin in The Hague were also nominated in the same category.
The jury states:
“The large residential building fits seamlessly with the industrial appearance of this port area and is technically advanced. This is proven in, for example, the way in which the steel load-bearing structure finds its bearing capacity in the subsoil on new mega bases. It appears as if the residential complex floats above the original warehouse on which it is built. The new, heavy steel construction with huge construction nodes in sight, correlates harmoniously with the tough, characteristic original materials. A great achievement from all construction partners, with an extra compliment for the architectural firm that enriched the Rotterdam port area with accurate and consistent interventions. After the war, Fenix I rose from its ashes in the 1950s. A complex task with groundbreaking results.”