Three residential buildings 's- Lands Werf

The disastrous flood of 1953 was the immediate reason to replan the banks of the Nieuwe Maas. Westzeedijk and Boompjes were raised to delta height, and the main dike was no longer Oostzeedijk but a new dike supporting a road, called Maasboulevard. Demolition of the old Maasstation paved the way for this new road, ‘a grandiose promenade’. And development was of course planned along this new boulevard: No industrial complexes, station buildings or passenger shipping offices will block the view of the river. Walking from Leuvehaven along the Maas, the Rotterdammer will see on the city side tall slender residential buildings, which are intended to house those Rotterdammers who, once they have reached a certain age and are in good shape, are now fleeing the city to live somewhere “pretty” in Wassenaar. That was the report in Het Vrije Volk of 29 January 1954. It was some time before the plans for housing took shape. First the boulevard had to be constructed, with new floodgates to Leuvehaven dock and to Boerengat inner harbour and two new bridges. An old restaurant called In den Rustwat, which stood in the way, was relocated.

The three blocks each contain sixty flats. Located on a stretch of land beside the Boerengat inner harbour, the ground-floor level of the blocks is lower than the level of the Maasboulevard. Unsuitable for housing, the ground floor contains a spacious entrance hall and garages, and the first floor contains storage units and a caretaker’s flat. There are two vertical circulation cores, each containing two lifts and a staircase. Each core gives access, on each level, to a six-room, a four-room and a two-room flat. The flats were very luxurious and comfortable, with a separate shower and bathroom, central heating, and two balconies, which is why the steep rent varied from 400 to over 500 guilders per month (185–225 euros). The blurb in the sales folder read: Spacious living in the heart of a metropolis.

A low-rise volume containing garages on the ground floor and one floor of apartments above is positioned perpendicular to each tall slab. Each slab also contains a shop space at the corner of the low volume. The flats enjoy wonderful views of the river. The facades are of light-coloured brickwork; the plinth is faced in dark-brown prefab elements. The contractor was J. P. van Eesteren, himself the client for one of the slabs. The other two were built for the RVS and Olveh insurance companies. The first sketches date from as early as 1957, but the definitive design was not finalized until 1962. The first pile entered the ground on 20 December 1962, and the apartments were completed in the autumn of 1964. It was some time before the surroundings, with gardens along the dike embankment and three small squares, were finished. Three of the lions on the Vierleeuwen Bridge were not placed on these squares until 1968. The three blocks were also given official names. The Olveh block is called the Pelican, the bird in the company’s logo. A statue of a pelican graces the entrance hall. The central slab is called the Lion, in reference to the three lions, and the third block is simply called the RVS block.

Most apartments are owner-occupied and sell for up to 465,000 euros today. Even a garage costs 169 euros a month to rent. The shop space in the RVS building is occupied by a chiropractor, and since 2021 the Leeuwenflat has housed Galerie Kralingen, run by Georges Knap. 

In addition to the three blocks of flats, the Kraaijvanger office designed the new Schielandshuis on ’s-Landswerf. Officially called the ‘Schieland Water Board Headquarters’, the building was designed in 1964. Construction started in 1966 and the building opened on 11 June 1968. The new building was needed because a villa on Westersingel had to be demolished to allow the level of Westzeedijk to be raised. A complete antique interior, including splendid ceiling paintings, was relocated from this former mansion. Apart from that, it is a sober building with a facade of light-grey sanded stone. Apart from offices and meeting spaces, the building contained three service dwellings: a caretaker’s flat on the ground floor and flats for the secretary-manager and the chief engineer on the top floor, with a large roof terrace. Works of art feature prominently in the building, including a stained-glass window by Ger van lersel, a relief-nameplate by Adri Blok at the front door and a huge tapestry for the big meeting room by Piet Wiegersma. The building was designed by the new, younger Kraaijvanger architects Knol and Maas. It was extended in the 1980s by yet another Kraaijvanger generation.

The name of the street – 's-Lands Werf – was selected in 1961 for what was then still a vacant piece of land, close to the former Maasstation railway station. The name refers to the wharfs where Admiral Michiel de Ruyter had his war fleet built. He could observe progress from the Admirality, located on the site of what is now Admiraliteitskade.

Read more about it in the book 's-Lands werf by Piet de Ruiter, Watermerk publishers, 2010.