Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands.
Completion: 2012
Client: Alrov group, Tel Aviv, Israel.
Program: hotel, hospitality, retail, spa.
Sector: transformation, renovation
Size: 19.000 m2
Architect: Meyer en Van Schooten Architecten BV.
Project architect: Barry van Waveren (reA)
Partners: Architectenbureau J. van Stigt BV.
Image credits: Daniel Nicolas, Amit Geron, a.o.
The former Rijkspostspaarbank, a listed building next to the Stedelijk Museum, for long had been used as the Amsterdam Conservatory. Monumental ceilings had been boarded over to solve the terrible acoustics. In the damp cellars students were taking it out on drum kits. Around 2006 the conservatory moved and the building was finally bought by the Israeli run Alrov Group, to house their next international luxury hotel.
In direct cooperation with Andre van Stigt, the specialist in Amsterdam for the renovation of listed buildings, MVSA made up the plans for the hotel. In the courtyard a new atrium was added on top of a cellar with a Spa and facilities. The entrance to the hotel was moved here with a gate at the Paulus Potterstraat, offering enough space for the logistics. The original entrance along the Van Baerlestraat was dedicated to the retail on the ground floor, being close to the PC Hooftstraat. The higher floors of the monument house all the rooms, most of them 5 meters in height. The routing was much improved with a new core in the atrium, linked with bridges to the monument.
The final interior design and decorating was done by Lissoni from Milano.
The project won the Gulden Feniks in 2012, for the best transformation.