van Nellefabriek

English translation

The text above is the record as published by the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed, in Dutch. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed; it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

Description

Introduction

From 1925-31, the factory site of the Van Nelle complex was created in phases, originally intended for staff recreation and education, transport, loading and transshipment of raw materials and finished products, and laid out in a combination of New Objectivity and decorative (garden) style, with designers including J.A. Brinkman and L.C. van der Vlugt, J.H. van den Broek and garden architect M. Ruys successively involved; in its current appearance predominantly determined by the layout designed in 1942-43, based on the original concept of a transparent factory complex in an open, park-like space serving the staff and offering views and vistas from all directions.

Description

The factory site of the Van Nelle complex, created in phases, consists of a functional alternation of hard surfaces, green strips, flower beds and a factory garden laid out in decorative garden style near the main entrance, with the layout also determined by aesthetic, logistical, educational and recreational requirements. The positioning of buildings and green facilities is designed such that largely unobstructed views of the glass facades are afforded from all directions; sight lines to and from the layered buildings of the Van Nelle complex have been created over both short and long distances, whereby the complex functions as a 'landmark' for a wide surrounding area; furthermore, the visual effect of the complex is enhanced by the reflection of the buildings in the nearby waters of the Delfshavense Schie, the kidney-shaped pond and the narrow waterway on the south and south-west sides. The underlay, concrete factory street leads from the main entrance with two curves in front of the indented office building - around a banana-shaped escape mound - straight past the factories, under the four air bridges, and with a right-angled bend past the L-shaped workshops/fire station building (which, by its location, functions as a visual terminus of the factory street) to the originally open rear site equipped with sports and green facilities and has connections to the concrete delivery street between on the one hand the boiler house, the former delivery building (Schiegebouw) and the workshops/fire station building (TD), and on the other hand the dozen warehouses (Schiehallen). The factory street was provided from the outset with an underlay concrete surface on account of heavy freight traffic. The escape mound was originally provided with square pink-red pavement tiles, but later with a lawn and since 1982, on the occasion of the bicentenary of the Van Nelle company, provided with a round flower bed in the middle. The pavements on either side of the concrete factory street are also provided with square pink-red pavement tiles. Furthermore, several square grate covers with cast-iron and concrete square gratings have been preserved. The office building, factory buildings and boiler house were originally all surrounded by lawns, some enclosed with low fencing. The broad, unfenced lawns on the south-west side of the factories served, among other things, for outdoor lessons. Following the transfer in 1942 of the relevant land from Rotterdam municipality to the Van Nelle company for the expansion of the factory site, in connection with the construction of the warehouses along the Delfshavense Schie in 1942-43 (built in the framework of reconstruction), an extensive factory garden has been realized between the winding Van Nelleweg, the straight bank of the Delfshavense Schie and the narrow concrete roads along the boiler house and the further set-back warehouses. The garden layout executed in decorative garden style comprises a kidney-shaped pond at the level of the main entrance, a rising, open lawn with clipped hedging and possibly designed by Mien Ruys planted borders with planting varying in colour, height and flowering time; these borders are arranged near the boiler house and the side wall of warehouse A and are visually terminated along the Delfshavense Schie by a group of trees. The kidney-shaped pond is surrounded at its rounded ends by tree and shrub planting (including willows); on the east side a paved promenade with low wooden and concrete benches, visually connecting to the wedge-shaped garden section east of the pond with open lawn, shrubs and hedges along the Van Nelleweg. The level difference at the lawn has also been created by the laying of foundations for the warehouses originally planned for that location, but not built, and by the excavation of the pond. On the south-east side of the office building a rose bed has been laid out and between the office building and the main entrance a green bed. On the south side, near the waterway, the factory site is provided with sloping grass verges, lawns and scattered planting, including near the entrance of the rebuilt canteen building, where borders and a small wood plantation have been laid out at a lawn.

Valuation

Factory site layout of the Van Nelle complex, created in phases, executed in a combination of New Objectivity and decorative (garden) style, of general significance as a visually coherent and historically-functional complex component, whereby functional, urban planning and recreational/educational requirements are coordinated such that optimal site use and views and vistas guided by semi-public green have been achieved.