Dutch firm erects an impressive scaffolding staircase in Rotterdam city centre.

Amsterdam based scaffolding firm Dutch Steigers have completed a huge Layher system staircase in the heart of Rotterdam city centre.

The staircase forms one part of several new exciting projects within the city by contemporary architects MVRDV. MVRDV co-founder Winy Maas believes the project is the first step in creating a new network of rooftop spaces around the city.

Measuring 29 meters high and 57 meters long, the installation allows visitors to climb 180 steps leading to a rooftop observation deck on the Groot Handelsgebouw building – one of the first buildings constructed in the city after the end of the second world war.

Winy Maas added; “The stairs are a symbolic first step towards a better use of our city’s second layer, and ideally would be replaced with a set of escalators in the next step,”.

“It is, in this way, a second reconstruction, a ‘Tweederopbouw’, that gives access to, activates and connects the rooftops of Rotterdam.”

An exhibition is being held alongside the installation, reimagining how other buildings in the city can accommodate rooftop activities.

“With this installation and in our exhibition we show what this city could look like if we do that in many places, engaging a series of our existing buildings and giving access to their roofs, to create a new, much more interactive, three dimensional and denser urban topography for the next city generation,” added Maas.