Rotterdam, Netherlands
Grote Beer
Actiflow conducted a pedestrian-level wind assessment for the Grote Beer in Rotterdam.
The project ‘De Grote Beer’ concerns the development of a residential tower with approximately 193 rental apartments on the west side of the Alexandrium shopping centre in Rotterdam. This shopping centre is located between the ‘Het Lage Land’ and ‘Oosterflank’ districts. The new construction is planned on a vacant lot at the intersection between the ‘Grote Beer’ and the ‘Hoofdweg’.
Case details
The challenge
Actiflow was asked to conduct a wind microclimate assessment for the development of the new building. The aim of the study was to map the risks of wind hindrance and wind hazard at pedestrian level around the new building. In addition, the aim of this study was to gain insight into the consequences of the placement of the new building for the wind climate in the enclosed corridor at the rear of the shopping centre.
Actiflow conducted this wind assessment according to The Dutch standard “NEN 8100:2006: Windhinder en windgevaar in de bouwen en bouwen” (Wind hindrance and wind hazard in the built environment). First a geometric model of the building and its surroundings was created. A high-resolution calculation grid was constructed around this geometry as a basis for the Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations of the wind flows.
The wind climate was examined in two situations, namely:
• Situation I: the existing situation, namely existing buildings, buildings already permitted and buildings under construction;
• Situation II: the future situation, namely situation I supplemented with the new construction of De Grote Beer.
Results
The results show that the wind climate in the existing situation is varied and that this will remain the case with the addition of the new construction. In some locations an increase in wind hindrance classes occurs, but this increase does not result in an excess of the guidelines anywhere. Specifically near the northern high-rise volume Ursa Major, the addition of De Grote Beer improves the wind climate.
The wind microclimate assessment shows that the addition of De Grote Beer has an effect on the local wind climate that may be expected with the addition of a building volume of this size. Here, an acceptable wind climate is achieved after realization of the new construction.
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