Penthouse West Reinvents 1968 Office Into a Glass-Box Home in Rotterdam
Penthouse West crowns a 1968 office block in Rotterdam, Netherlands, with a glass-box home and restored Modernist bones. Powerhouse Company leads the conversion, turning a neglected address into a layered apartment building capped by their own family penthouse. The project pairs engineering finesse with a lush material palette, drawing on Midcentury Modern cues and post-war Rotterdam finishes to frame long skyline views while bringing the building’s original character back into focus.
Wind brushes the roof garden as daylight pours through a slanted glass wall. Inside, stone and wood meet the gleam of engineered glazing across a wide horizon.
This is an apartment conversion in Rotterdam by Powerhouse Company, topped by a glass-box penthouse. The former 1968 office building sheds later alterations to recover Modernist clarity while the new structure above pushes material ambition. Across the project, construction choices carry the story: restored brick and travertine below, precision glass and steel above.
Restore The Core
Work starts with subtraction. Layers from the 1980s and 1990s come off to reveal lofty ceilings, round columns, and mahogany-framed strip windows. Warm brickwork on the exterior ties back to the original envelope, while slate, travertine, and solid hardwood return the interior to its intended richness. The result feels legible and crisp, a clear base for the contemporary penthouse to sit upon without visual noise.
Engineer The Glass
The rooftop addition reads as a precise glass rectangle. Its façade carries the roof above, earning the title of the largest load-bearing glass façade in north-west Europe. Strength comes from slanted glazing, with steel cables concealed in the joints anchoring the roof plate. A generous overhang shades the perimeter and mirrors the patio geometry below, and its muted grey finish cuts glare while keeping the edge clean.
Stair, Link, Light
Movement begins at a champagne-colored spiral stair. Visitors rise into the living room where glass wraps the city and frames the Maas in one broad sweep. Above and around, the roof garden encircles the new-build layer, while part of the level below ties the home back into the existing structure. The stair works as hinge and centerpiece, quietly connecting family life to the view.
Material Rooms
Behind the glass, a more private volume wears travertine. Inside, rooms shift tone through material: a music room lined in American walnut with a large circular window, a kitchen diner set with mahogany, red travertine, matt gold resin, and green serpentine stone. The master bedroom stays crisp and white, while its bathroom is fully wrapped in travertine. On the level below, three children’s rooms stand as autonomous objects in American walnut, adding warmth and tactility.
Details That Ground
Color lands where it counts. A pink glass wall near the stair and gold kitchen cabinets thread brightness through the natural palette. Outside the glass line, the shaded edge sets a quiet rhythm that both shelters and prolongs the view. Art is placed to work with light and material, not against them, joining the craft of the rooms into a continuous experience.
Evening brings a soft sheen to stone and timber. The glass line holds steady, the roof resting lightly above as the city dims beyond. In this meeting of restored structure and engineered clarity, materials do the talking.
Photography by Sebastian van Damme
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