Last week, we had the great pleasure of co-organising the Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat (CTBUH) Europe Conference in Amsterdam.
Over the course of three days, we explored the challenges and opportunities in the pursuit of carbon-neutral cities across Europe, through inspiring discussions with colleagues, partners, and experts from the field of architecture, urban planning, and engineering.
The conference opened on Tuesday with multiple site visits and a networking reception in the recently renovated De Nederlandsche Bank. On Wednesday morning, Haakon Brouwer opened the official programme in De Duif and moderated the first session of the day. Later, Diederik Dam joined Francesco Veenstra for a thought-provoking panel discussion on the need for The Netherlands and Europe to look beyond national borders — and what it truly takes to densify our cities responsibly.
Thursday brought us to Rotterdam, where we were welcomed at MVRDV House. Haakon presented a case study on De Zalmhaven, the world’s tallest prefabricated building, walking the audience through the design narrative and construction journey. To close the morning, Bjarne van der Drift joined Arup’s Rick Titulaer to reflect on their earlier webinar, discussing the specific challenges of high-rise developments in the Netherlands. Rick concluded with a compelling look at how data-driven design can help address the complexities of urban growth.
In the afternoon, we crossed the river Maas by water taxi toward De Zalmhaven for one of the organised site tours. Together with Michelle Corbeau and Gerhard Bolk MRICS of AM Development, we were able to reflect on the project while enjoying panoramic views of Rotterdam from the top of Celest.
A heartfelt thank you to the CTBUH team, especially Dario Trabucco, for curating such an engaging and well-organised event. And congratulations to all who contributed, particularly our own Diederik, Bjarne, and Haakon, for their insights and commitment to advancing the conversation on sustainable, high-density urban development.
