During the interview, the two keep repeating that one word ‘experience.’ Anyone really wanting to understand what they mean by that should schedule a visit to Portlantis from March next year. As we said already, the trip to Maasvlakte 2 is impressive in itself. We can’t give away too much now, but later, as soon as you step into the Portlantis’s metres-high atrium, you’ll get it: this is truly a place you have to experience.

In the coming months, Niks and Sterk will be working with a large team on the final stages to get Portlantis ready for visitors to arrive. Whether they are proud? To ask the question is to answer it, Niks laughs. ‘I am biased of course, but I’m impressed with how the building blends into the landscape. The indoor and outdoor spaces reinforce each other. It feels like a reward for all the hard work during the past years.’

The third floor of Portlantis is dedicated to the port of the future. Rotterdam port’s ambition is to be climate neutral by 2050, while remaining vital and competitive. Using augmented reality, visitors can discover how the port is already gaining its new shape. Piet-Harm Sterk says, ‘We tell this innovative story in several ways, making it interesting for pupils starting secondary school as well as those with a vast amount of knowledge about the port. That applies to every exhibition: each has different layers so that there is something for everyone to discover.’

Furthermore, Portlantis’s programme will not be restricted to the building alone, Niks explains. ‘With Portlantis, we are making full use of the building’s surroundings, right there on that exceptional border between port industry and nature. There are boat trips through the port, bus rides, beach expeditions to search for fossils, as well as in-depth theme days on specific topics. In all seasons, there are both indoor as well as outdoor activities visitors can take part in.’

The exhibition focuses on how important the port is for our daily lives. Niks says, ‘What does the port mean for you and your surroundings? We want to keep reiterating that. There will be an exhibition about the chemical industry. About how the raw materials they develop are used in everyday products – from medication to your coke bottle. We then show how relevant that part of the port is for our daily lives. Visitors can play a game to crack molecules and combine raw materials to subsequently see in which everyday products they appear.’

EIC Mainport Rotterdam, the educational information centre for young people currently located on Landtong Rozenburg, is moving to Portlantis as well. After all, by reaching young people we can ensure that they want to work in the port later on. Eileen Niks says, ‘That’s what we want Portlantis to radiate: that this is a place where young people can get acquainted with the activity in the port and vice versa.

His eyes light up when he speaks about it. ‘In the form of a game, you can try and guide as many vessels as possible to your port. If you don’t do it properly, you will literally see them sail past the port. That is a massive task in a real port of course, to ensure that all goes smoothly. We can capture the enormity and complexity of the port on a smaller scale. You can create an awareness in people that the work in the port doesn’t just happen all by itself but requires a lot of and intensive human work. And that there are plenty of nice and varied jobs in the port. They range from IT professionals to engineers, to people who do the actual physical work in the port.’

Without giving away too much about the unique Portlantis experience – after all, the surprise is part of the exhilarating experience – Sterk would like to give a couple of hints. ‘In Portlantis, you mostly discover the port by doing things yourself. Just as an example, you can design your own port, with a combination of physical and digital elements,’ Sterk explains.

‘You are immersed in the story of the port of Rotterdam and in the value of the port for your life and for Rotterdam, the Netherlands and Europe in all kinds of surprising ways. It’s a place with major and exceptional infrastructure, a place of great significance for our employment and economy, and a place of innovation,’ Sterk explains. ‘The exhibitions will mainly be an experience and interactive because – unlike in a standard museum or information centre – you don’t just stare at display cases. You can really do something. And that is interesting for, let’s say, both primary school children as well as people who step inside Portlantis’s doors with a business relation.’

The brand-new building was designed by MVRDV, the reputable architects known for designs including the Markthal and Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen. Portlantis now joins those two buildings as an icon of Rotterdam. The exceptional layering of the design, with its five characteristic, rotated floors, is also reflected in the way exhibitions are presented in Portlantis, states Piet-Harm Sterk. He is involved in the project as creative director.

From March 2025, anyone looking for an exceptional meeting place can come here in one of the four spaces spread throughout the building, all four with phenomenal views of the activities in the port of Rotterdam. There will be space for all kinds of custom programmes and events, both during the day as well in the evenings. If you are looking for a place for a confidential meeting at an exceptional location or even a port location for an awayday, Portlantis is the place to be. Niks says, ‘Moreover, the fact we are getting a nice restaurant in the building is a big bonus. You will be able to get sandwiches but also more extensive and luxurious dishes. So, something for everyone.’

‘Portlantis is really at the intersection of industry and nature,’ says Eileen Niks, involved in Portlantis as programme manager on behalf of the Port of Rotterdam Authority. ‘It’s a place that intends to serve as the home of the port.’ Smiling, she corrects herself, ‘Actually, even more than that: as the port’s red carpet, a kind of showcase. Moreover, it is suitable for a wide target audience. Portlantis will be a place for young and old, ranging from seasoned port enthusiasts to day-trippers and from students to corporate visitors.’

Five silver grey, rectangular floors with enormous windows are stacked at right angles to each other, surrounded by bright red stairs leading to the roof of the building. No passer-by can miss this exceptional construction. Just the trip to Portlantis is an experience in itself. Driving between colossal terminals and vessels larger than apartment buildings makes a person seem insignificant and probably also curious about what happens in this huge port. You’ve come to the right place for that at Portlantis, on the edge of the dunes of Maasvlakte 2.