Studio RAP, Scheepsbouwweg 8 E2, Rotterdam (2026)

We're an architecture firm that uses digital design- and fabrication tools to create beautiful buildings efficiently

26/08/2026

New Project: Powerwall! ⚡️

We designed and produced one of the largest robotically 3D-printed ceramic artworks in the world, now on the facade of a high-voltage transformer station!

Powerwall is a ceramic artwork at Switchstation Beverwijk, a station designed by Powerhouse Company for grid operator TenneT Netherlands, and it shows how a bespoke ceramic surface can add an expressive layer to a building and contribute to its character. A transformer station carries the electricity of an entire region, yet that energy stays completely hidden from the street. We took our inspiration directly from it, shaping the electromagnetic fields inside the building into flowing lines and spirals, then producing them as 322 unique ceramic tiles printed in clay in our Rotterdam workshop and set into the brick facade. A translucent turquoise glaze pools into the printed grooves and shifts with the daylight. This is a strong example of how our ceramic designs can add an expressive layer based on a building’s context and help it become a landmark. A big thank you to Powerhouse Company for the opportunity to be part of this project!

📸 Studio Pim Top / 스튜디오 핌 탑

Powerwall, Switchstation Beverwijk, the Netherlands

Size: 40 m² (8 x 5 m)
Tiles: 322 at 308 x 336 mm
Glaze: Translucent turquoise

roboticfabrication

25/08/2026

Blue Voyage came together in a short space of time. What started as a sketch became a script, then a robotic path, then hundreds of ceramic panels on their way to Jumeirah Marsa Al Arab in Dubai. Because the design, the engineering, and the printing all happen in house, we could keep that pace without losing control of the detail. Sending a full set abroad was a first for us at the time. Seeing them in place, it still feels like the sketch made it all the way through.

21/08/2026

The shape of every tile is part of the design, so the geometry and the glaze are developed together toward the same idea rather than chosen from a catalogue. And white is never just one white. Depending on the recipe and how the kiln treats it, the same glaze comes out matte and soft, glossy and reflective, or pearly with a faint shimmer, with a long list of variations in between. A matte white keeps a facade quiet and lets the relief of the tiles read as shadow, while a glossy or pearly white picks up the sky and changes as the sun moves across it. We keep a growing set of white tests in the studio, and they are the fastest way to have that conversation.

18/08/2026

Research into patterns for a new project, an arched museum gate. The robot builds each tile layer by layer, and by moving it in a specific way we can work small pearls into the clay while it prints. Different movements give different patterns, some tighter, some more open, and because the design is parametric one pattern can shift gradually into the next across the gate. What we still have to test is how they hold up after glazing, because the glaze can close the space between the pearls. That spacing decides how much of the pattern you end up seeing.

Work in progress

16/07/2026

These are some of the projects we’re working on now, each one set to be realized over the coming years.

For every project we start by looking for a concept that fits the place it’s made for. From there we follow it end to end. How the design settles into the context of its site. How the geometry can actually be 3D printed once we let algorithmic design work through it. How the surface changes under the glaze, where it deepens, where it catches the light. Some of it we know from the first sketch, and a lot of it we only understand once we’re deep in the making, developing each design in-house until the idea holds all the way to the finished tile.

A project like this only works when everyone around the table moves together, so we stay close with the architects, developers, and contractors throughout, and we stay open about cost and planning from the start. That way the design keeps its ambition and no one is caught off guard along the way.
Working this way, every site ends up with a design that belongs only there, something that adds to the identity of the place, and we can’t wait to see these come to life.

A tile from the Herwaert project in Rotterdam, glazed early on to see how the colour settles before we take the design further.

Scala, Zuidas Amsterdam. The concept turns the base of the building into a spectacular ceramic passage, a route people move through rather than simply walk past.

Scala, Zuidas Amsterdam. Another view of the passage, where the ceramic experience draws people in and carries them through the heart of the building.

A deep orange glaze on the tile. We’re still testing the form, looking for a shape that fits the concept and a way to hide the seam so the surface reads as one continuous piece.

Touwdraaier. The name refers to the site’s former use as a rope-making factory, since touwdraaier means rope spinner in Dutch. We wove that story into the architecture through a ceramic facade designed to echo the twisting motion of rope. Even at sketch design we prototyped the 3D-printed ceramic elements, bringing concept and craft together from

Adres

Scheepsbouwweg 8 E2
Rotterdam
3089JW

Website

http://www.studiorap.nl/

Meldingen

Wees de eerste die het weet en laat ons u een e-mail sturen wanneer Studio RAP nieuws en promoties plaatst. Uw e-mailadres wordt niet voor andere doeleinden gebruikt en u kunt zich op elk gewenst moment afmelden.

Contact

Stuur een bericht naar Studio RAP:

Studio RAP