The recently completed buildings for the College of Shipping and Transport (STC) leave no room for doubt: this is a training centre for shipping and everything that's related to it. It's a building full of forms, colours and materials that conjure up associations with ships and sailing. Placed on a quadrant is a squarish tube, and placed on that is a trapezoidal volume. The forms are an abstract representation of an inland canal boat whose bridge is raised so that the skipper enjoys an unobstructed view over the containers. The façade is clad in panels of glass and aluminium coffers in alternating blue and silver-grey in reference to containers and the port.

The College of Shipping and Transport was created when various schools merged. The buildings now accommodate 2000 secondary-level students as well as employees taking refresher courses. The STC possesses simulators that draw visitors from all around the world to Rotterdam. Reflecting reality on ships, the unique combination of education levels and experience can be read in the vertical organisation of the school. All classrooms, except for the simulators and the workshops, are located in the tower. The lower floors are occupied by the students of lower secondary professional education, the floors above by students of higher vocational education, and the uppermost floors contain the offices of consultants and the congress hall that offers a wide view of the docks. Escalators connect the floors to one another.
Located in the plinth are a café and bookshop that can operate independently of the school. Also in the plinth are the workshops, the spaces containing simulators, the gymnasium, the multimedia centre, and the big canteen that offers students a good view of the river.
The standard layout of an education floor is: classrooms on the east and west sides and staff rooms on the north and south sides. Located on the south sides of the third, fifth and ninth floors are what are called school squares. Apart from the classrooms and the teachers' rooms,
Neutelings Riedijk architecten took responsibility for the interiors. They placed sturdy wooden benches on the square squares, a wall of 'life jackets' in the congress hall, and prints of shipping maps on the tables in the students canteen. The result is a visual pep talk: 'keep going, finish your studies and you'll become part of the international and dynamic world of shipping!'.

text: Marina van den Bergen
photography: Jeroen Musch