Elevator House finalist for Open Monument Day Sustainability Award

12 July 2022

We are proud that the Elevator House in Rotterdam is one of the three finalists of the Open Monument Day Sustainability Award! A sustainable transformation of a Rijsmonument requires extra knowledge, time and especially attention. Together with the client we are proud of the result: the Elevator House shows that sustainability is perfectly possible without compromising the monumental value. The nomination for the Open Monument Day Sustainability Award feels like the icing on the cake!

The project

At Parklaan 8 in Rotterdam stands the national monument Het Elevatorhuis, designed by Michiel Brinkman (founder of our office) and built between 1914-1915. Together with the client and building partners, we restored this young monument to its former allure and upgraded it from energy label G to A as a future-proof multi-tenant building. Much attention was paid to preserving original details and making the building more sustainable. Wondering how this was handled? Read more about the Elevator House here.

The Jury

An inspiring example according to the jury, where the cultural-historical value has even been improved. During the restoration, many more historical details and finishes surfaced than expected. These have all been restored alongside the original building structure. In the light court, for example, old exterior window frames emerged, some with glass and all. In addition, traces of the original glass roof became visible. These have been included in the design.

You can vote

The election is partly held via a poll on heritagestem.nl, where visitors can indicate their preference for one of the three nominees from mid-August. Heritage professionals will do the same during an expert meeting at the opening event of Open Monument Day on September 8. The final winner will also be announced there. This one will be awarded the OMD so-called ‘Green Key’ during the festive opening of Open Monument Day 2022.

We are proud that this project has received recognition and we hope to inspire others in this way: it is possible to make a project more sustainable while preserving its monumental value!