Photography Silvia Arenas
Coolhaven 32: the history of the building
A chemical laboratory with deep roots in the Rotterdam port world stood on this spot on the Coolhaven for nearly seventy years before TENT settled here. Before art was displayed here, cargoes were inspected, samples weighed, and ship freight approved or rejected. The building still carries that history with it. TENT commissioned historian and Coolhaven resident Ferrie Weeda to investigate the history of this place, and we are happy to share his findings with you.
A laboratory in the heart of the port economy
The story of this building begins in 1901, when Dr. Aart Verwey founded a laboratory for the testing of ores, foodstuffs, and agricultural products. The company grew into an indispensable link in Rotterdam trade: ships unloading or loading had to pass by Verwey first. Was a cargo of vegetable oil being unloaded? Then it had to be checked to ensure it was not mixed with mineral oil before a customer like Unilever received the message that everything was in order.
In 1953, the laboratory moved to a new building at Coolhaven 32, built specifically for this purpose. Here, Verwey grew into a company with some 110 employees and an international reputation, partly thanks to the world-famous Tank Cleaning Guide.
Nearly a century of family business
The company was led by the noble Boddaert family for three generations. Jonkheer Rob Boddaert, the last descendant of that line, left a personal mark on the place: conservative and headstrong at the same time. While more efficient locations closer to the ports seemed the obvious choice, he remained at the Coolhaven, attached to a place where he had stood in the construction pit since childhood.
Under his leadership, the building continued to expand: office next to office, laboratory next to laboratory, connected by corridors that ran straight through various buildings. A world of its own, with a black marble weighing room, a library full of rare books, and an executive office with parquet flooring, paneling, and paintings from a private collection.
Traces of the past
Those who look closely can still see traces of history. The characteristic skylight, once built with the then-revolutionary Schokbeton. The stained-glass windows that were already on the original construction drawings. The spot where the fume hoods once stood, where a fire broke out in 2012 that changed the building forever.
It was a place of precision and community at the same time. Analysts weighing samples with military accuracy, alongside a corporate culture where you could just walk into the director's office to complain about the coffee.
A new chapter
Today the laboratory is gone, but the building has not forgotten what it stood for. Here, TENT builds upon a tradition of meticulous observation, although this time it is not about the composition of a shipment of grains, but about the meaning of contemporary art. The smell of chemicals has given way to fresh paint and new ideas, but the spirit of the building, of careful research and unexpected stories, lives on here.