Markthal (Rotterdam)

 marketplace, apartment building, 2014_construction

Markthal (The Market Hall) is a residential and office building with a market hall underneath. The building was opened on October 1, 2014, by Queen Máxima of the Netherlands. Besides the large market hall, the complex houses 228 apartments, 4600 m2 retail space, 1600 m2 horeca and an underground 4-storey parking garage with a capacity of 1200+ cars.
The Market Hall was designed by architectural firm MVRDV. The inside of the building is adorned with an 11.000 m2 artwork by Arno Coenen, named Hoorn des Overvloeds (Horn of Plenty).

The Market Hall is built on top of a fourteenth-century buried village in the Polder of Westnieuwland. This polder was surrounded by water and dykes to protect the polder during high-tide.There were a few houses and farms in this polder, also at the site of The Market Hall. During the building of the Market Hall, a tenth-century farm was found 7 metres under the ground. Within the house were two stoves and a few fireplaces. The farm was part of a village before Rotterdam, named Rotta, after the river Rotte. The inhabitants of Rotta were farmers, craftsmen and traders. Earlier, a small settlement from the fourteenth-century was found on the site. Several foundations on the site are now exhibited next to the central staircases underneath the Market Hall.