Walk around the block at Hofplein

When you’re working at Spaces Rotterdam, it’s easy to hop across the street and venture downtown for a little work break. But the area on the other side of Spaces is just as (if not more!) suited for an inspirational walk around the block.

Turn right at the entrance and immediately right again, and walk up the brown and yellow wooden walkway, or as Rotterdammers call it ‘De Luchtsingel’. A crowd-funded, 390-meter wooden bridge that connects the hip Schieblock next to the central station to Rotterdam Noord.
Just a few years ago, this area (including the area around Spaces) was a neglected eyesore filled with vacant high rises and abandoned parking lots. The bright yellow bridge and the many colorful initiatives associated with it (like Op het Dak and everyone’s favorite Biergarten managed to transform the derelict area into an inspirational feat of urban development.Once on the bridge, you can turn left towards the central station, or right towards Rotterdam’s future version of the New York Highline at the Hofbogen.

Take a glance (and a selfie) at the #SamsungPinkWall, an Instagram-worthy pink mural initiated by fashion blogger Sandra Kleine Staarman, created by art gallery Opperclaes.

The wall is part of Station Hofplein, the first part of a former two-kilometer railway track that stretches all the way to the edge of the city. The arches underneath the tracks are now home to various coffee bars, restaurants, cafes, design stores and artist studios. The track’s owners and the municipal government have plans to turn to the tracks into a public park, but the first stretch of the park won’t be open to the public until spring 2018.

Time to head back to work.  The area around the Luchtsingel and the Hofbogen is changing every day, so your next walk might be a completely different experience. That’s the fun of working in such a vibrant city- everything is always on the move.