This building is situated in the St Job Harbour. It was part of an electricity plant. Now one half has been converted into a film studio and the other (smaller) part is empty.
UPDATE - On 11 november it was published by the Rotterdam Municipal Council that this other part will be developed as an office-complex for audiovisual companies.
You can get in through an open gate from this side and then walk around the whole building. You can also get in through the hole in the wall from the terrain of Kuhne&Nagel (This is freely accessible, I asked). There you will find this alley.
If you enter the rooms on the right you will see big holes in the floor that housed large transformers. On the other side of these holes there are doors in the wall that lead into a large empty building. It has no walls or windows and it is wrapped in cloth to keep the pigeons out. Unfortunately all the doors are locked, but I was able to make this picture through a hole in one of the doors.
If you enter the door on the left of the alley you will find three empty floors. The first floor is completely dark. The second floor has holes in the floor and holes in the walls. On the third floor you can go up these stairs.
Then you can go through a small wooden door and up a metal staircase. There you will find this beautiful, intact, machine-room of the elevator. (Send me an e-mail if the picture is too big. I couldn't resist giving you all the details and it is 95k.)
Through a heavy metal door on the left of the elevator-room you can go out on the roof and look South. First you see the low Kuhne&Nagel building. The high building is on the other side of the river, it is the "Dok-toren" (Dock-tower) at the "Grienthoofd". It has 16 floors and it must have a beautiful view to the west from the fire-staircase. Unfortunately I haven't been able to infiltrate it yet.
I learned from this visit that it can be scary to go exploring on your own. While I was taking the pictures in the machine room, I heard the small wooden door slam shut. I imagined a junkie with a knife going after me. Fortunately it was only the wind that got into the building when I opened the door on the roof.
My evil imagination had been stimulated by the homeless person who stood in the doorway of the Kuhne&Nagel building. It was raining and he was hiding from the rain. With a stone he was scraping the paint from one of their doors, probably just to kill the time. I offered him my lunch-apple. He said "no", but took the apple anyway.
If you go around the small customs building next to the Schiecentrale you will find a small shack or shed. The door is open. If you go in you see an interesting pumping installation. Probably it is not used anymore. You can only go as far as the stairs, because there is about 50cm of ground-water in the room.
"Mijn" lift is geidentificeerd
Bedankt voor de fijne site, ik heb lekker rondgekeken, 26 jaar was ik probleemoplosser in de liftenwereld, de MK zoals wij een machinekamer noemden, die je op je intro scherm hebt staan, heb ik heel wat uren moeten bezoeken om die pokkelift aan de praat te maken! In dat zelfde gebouw zat nog een ,,spooklift'' die was in de oorlogsjaren buiten werking gesteld maar bleek in 1985, toen we er stiekem weer stroom opzetten, weer gewoon te werken, alleen jammer dat toen de hele zooi afbrak want de ophanging van de kabels was totaal weggeroest!
Ja, die lift, ik weet niet meer zeker of het een Hensen lift was, of een Brinkmann, maar het was een oud pokkeding, met weinig medeleven voor de monteurs. Wat mij bij is gebleven is dat het een mechanisch ,,verdiepingsapparaat'' had (ook wel kopieertrommel genoemd). Dat verd. app, werd door een stalen kabeltje, dat met de liftkooi meeliep, bewogen. Uiteraard was het een oud relais gestuurd kreng met grote ,,klappers'' voor de hoofdstroom. Ik heb het in mijn boek in wording ook nog over dat ding, wel niet in een hoofdrol, maar toch.
Maar nogmaals, bere goede site, en mocht je meer opnamen hebben van liften, ik ben er klaar voor! Inmiddels heb ik van de hobby een beroep gemaakt en ben nu schrijver/columnist en journalist, dus verklap niet teveel! Groetjes, Jan. redactie@hoogvliet.org, koopmans@bart.nl
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© 1998 Petr Kazil - 12 November 1998