Port House, Antwerp: Zaha Hadid’s Floating Ship of Glass over a Fire Station
The Old Site & Context
Antwerp, serving as one of Europe’s largest port cities has shaped its cultural identity for centuries, and has become renowned for the diamond trade. However, given the multiple ports the city has, the Port of Antwerp Authority was too spread out, lacking coherence and thus needed a new unified port headquarters, thus they hired Zaha Hadid Architects to design a new headquarters for them.
After researching the given site, Mexico Island in Antwerp’s Kattendijk Dock(Quay 63, waterfront), Zaha Hadid architects found an old fire station. The building, a replica of a “Hanseatic residence,” was listed as a protected historical site. But, rather than destroying and building over the site, the Port Authority required it to be preserved, and demolition was not an option. Thus this project didn’t become some new bold design, but an intricate historical preservation one, one that required preservation and new life towards an existing structure, a contemporary extension that signals the port’s ambition, the city’s identity and future.
The site is surrounded by water, and the architects wanted to approach the design that centered around expanding the views from the river, city and horizon.
Architect & Design Philosophy
ZHA architects are best known for its parametric fluid forms, bold geometry and imposing facades, but in this project, they had a similar, yet more nuanced approach. We can see 2 main historical preservation approaches here:
Layering old and new: When it comes to urban development, we usually see the new superseding the old, yet this time the layering of old and new could not be more apparent. The old fire station is preserved, and the new structure floats above it, almost similar to Frank Gehry's dancing house.
Metaphor and reference: The extension of the new volume creates 2 main metaphors: a ship's bow, a reference to Antwerp’s maritime culture, and a diamond, a reference to the dominant diamond trade.
Redefining limitations: By centering the new design around preserving the original, it does not conceal the old structure, but rather let the Port authority’s past speak for itself. The extension does not mimic the old building’s style — it contrasts with it. The design completes what was originally intended (a tower or verticality) but in a new way.
Light, transparency and reflection: The new structure uses reflective glass to modulate and control glares and natural lighting. The building interacts with its surroundings — sky, water, light cycles. Also, it is important to have good daylight internally, balanced with control of solar gain.
Design Intent — What & Why
The design itself brought together over 500 workers of the Port Authority, who had previously been working in scattered locations. Its main functionality was to serve as the new central headquarters, with offices, meeting rooms, restaurants, auditorium and a public library. Other than that, the site serves a few purposes:
Symbolic value: The building itself is not just the headquarters, but it's meant to serve as an imposing, iconic landmark, serving as a reminder of the city's culture, past and future, connecting the city historically and culturally. It preserved the old fire station, and kept its old rooms including the old courtyard, public reading room and even restored the old library. They renovated the roof glazed courtyard and atrium. The diamond trade, river, water, port industry: these are all part of Antwerp’s identity. The extension’s form and facade tries to echo water (waves), reflection, ship-bow forms. It also references the “unbuilt tower” from the original fire station design. Looking to the future, ZHA installed more efficient HVAC and energy systems, BREEAM ratings were approved, and included geothermal/borehole systems, bicycle parking and electric car charging, making it adapt to future needs.
How They Did It — Methods, Tools, Craft
Structural & Engineering Moves
The new extension of the facade (around 6200 m²) was constructed above the old fire station, almost doubling the total gross size. The extension itself is supplied by 2 concrete pylons/columns), one located inside the fire station's existing courtyard and the others standing outside. The pillars carry the weight of the new structure so that the old fire station would remain structurally intact, giving a floating arrangement and feeling for the new facade, touching the old building minimally.
The steel superstructure of the extension is quite substantial: it weighs ~1,500 tonnes. It was built in modular fashion: broken into large trusses or modules, assembled and lifted into place section by section over the pillars.
Façade & Envelope
The facade of the new structure is interesting as it uses triangular glass panels ( flat facets) that are rotated in differing arrangements to one another. The transparency of each glass panel differs, creating a facade pattern that has different degrees of reflectiveness and light transmission behavior. In particular, panels on the south end are much flatter, while the ones on the north end are more angled, helping control solar views, reflection, and translucency.
The structural geometry allows the curved ends (“prow” shape) to appear smooth, even though made of flat planar facets. This is achieved via many small triangular panels forming the curvature.
Inside, the uses of old spaces were adapted: public reading room, meeting rooms, etc. The roof and structure of the old building had to be adapted for new services (HVAC, daylight, circulation) but without overly disturbing heritage fabric. (Metalocus)
Sustainable Power and Utilities Systems,
The building won a “very good” BREEAM environmental rating.
The building itself uses a borehole thermal energy system: water pumped to 80 meters below the ground in over 100 locations around the building and is used for heating and cooling. Additionally, it creates chilled feelings, cooling the overall building temperature.
Other “green” decisions: motion-sensor lighting, daylight controls, waterless fittings, charging points for electric cars, large bicycle parking. (Zaha Hadid Architects)
Tools & Construction Process
The building was constructed using modular construction. Most parts, including the steel trusses were prefabricated/pre-made and brought and assembled together. This reduced the amount of time, but also posed challenges of construction and structural durability. The facade panels were also pre fabricated, and required precision engineering and hiring glazing specialists to get the right angles and transparency. The concrete columns were sculpted, poured and positioned by a team to support the mass that ‘cantilevered’above the old fire house. The foundation and ground works under the new columns and the ring-beam connecting them were critical. The process also involved traditional preservation techniques, including masonry repair, renovating brick facade, cleaning/repainting and roof restorations. Integration of services (MEP) had to negotiate between old building’s constraints and new extension’s demands: things like routing, insulation, weather sealing between old and new interface.
Impact Today & Reflections
The new Port house today has become one of Antwerp's iconic landmarks. It symbolizes the city's unique history and identity, and has become an icon of adaptive reuse, not just mimicking or hiding the old, but contrasting it to bring it out, making a clear dialogue between historical architecture and the future of architecture. It respects heritage while also being unapologetically bold. The building saw new sustainable systems and cutting edge technological methods within its construction process. However, architecturally it raises the debate, does new always need to imitate or defer, or can it be bold and reflective? The new Port House leans towards the latter. Some critics praise it; others find the contrast too strong. But that tension is part of what makes it interesting. All in all, this is one must visit for those interested in historical preservation and adaptive reuse.
