Echo Opens in Rotterdam as a Listening Bar Built From Shipping Crates
A new bar in Rotterdam is built around listening. Echo, a listening bar, has opened on the ground floor of Groot Handelsgebouw, a post-war office block directly opposite Rotterdam Centraal station, according to Dezeen.
A listening bar is a venue where good records played on a strong sound system are the main attraction. Echo is the first venue of its kind in Rotterdam, the Dutch port city.
The bar was opened by creative director Jeff Hoogendijk, DJ and producer Khalil Ryahi and architect Paul Cournet. Its interior was designed by Cournet's architecture and design studio, Cloud. The founders drew on visits to listening bars in Tokyo, Japan.
Echo runs as a coffee shop by day and a bar by night. It also has a curated retail area for sale.
The main bar does two jobs. It works as the service counter and as the DJ area. It was built by Baleart Handlers, a company that makes wooden shipping crates for moving artworks. The bar's sides are printed with the words "handled with care", which have become Echo's tagline.
The sound system uses speakers and subwoofers that fit into shelving developed with Form Follows Frequency. The shelving is made by Tylko, a Polish furniture brand that supplied much of the venue's furniture, including modular shelves that run along the walls for displaying vinyl. Two sculptural speaker towers stand on either side of the bar.
The look of the room comes partly from artist and designer Sabine Marcelis. Her ombré mirrors, which fade from one shade into another, hang on the walls and reflect red and gold tones. A linear resin lamp hangs above the bar. Marcelis works with glass, resin and natural stone, and uses light and water in her pieces. Her studio says she draws inspiration from nature.
For visitors, Echo is at Weena 687, Groot Handelsgebouw, Rotterdam. The venue describes itself as a "Listening Space & Bar" on its Instagram account, which is @echo__687.
Echo's name, its tagline and its crate-built counter all point to the same idea. The bar treats its sound, its objects and its guests with the same care that goes into moving a painting across a border.
