Coen van Oostrom started his own business during his studies in Rotterdam. Before his fortieth birthday, he developed the Maastoren with his company OVG Real Estate, which now goes by the name Edge. The Maastoren became the highest building of the Benelux.
A couple of years later De Rotterdam was built, the massive construction designed by architect Rem Koolhaas, followed by The Edge in Amsterdam, the most sustainable and technologically advanced building in the world. 'When I was working at becoming a successful businessmen, I found technology totally uninteresting. But since the last ten years, I find it incredibly interesting.'
In this interview with Financieel Dagblad, Coen van Oostrom talks about his time as a student, about what he as an economist found fascinating about the real estate market and about developing The Edge, a building full of sensors. 'We were the first ones in project development to put a major focus on sustainability. A couple of years later, many other people followed.'
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Coen van Oostrom graduated from Erasmus School of Economics in 1995.