03 02 12
The construction of the New Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam has been completed. The renovation of the old part was already finalized in 2010 and the eye-catching façade was completed in November last year. The next phase is the installation of the catering, retail and other public facilities and in the following months the time-consuming tuning of the climate system will take place. When this process is finished, the relocation of the art objects starts. The grand re-opening of the Stedelijk Museum is planned in the second half of 2012.
26 01 12
The Crowns, the up and coming rockband from Amsterdam, gave away an amazing private show at the Benthem Crouwel Lab. The Crowns were selected by 3FM as new Serious Talent and performed at multiple radio shows, including Giel’s famed morning show & MetMichiel. Their latest single was debuted on the Dutch prime time TV show De Wereld Draait Door and their video’s on youtube know glory days. In between their jamming, rehearsing and rocking to the top, they found the time to perform at the Benthem Crouwel office. For more information about The Crowns, click here.
19 01 12
Holland Composites, the company that has built the façade of the Stedelijk Museum, made a movie about how this impressive piece of work came into existence. Click here to see.
22 12 11
Crescendo, the residential building in Venlo, is completed. It covers nearly 25,000 m2 gross floor area and consists of 74 luxury apartments, 42 assisted living apartments, five group homes, several commercial and healthcare-related facilities and underground parking. The surrounding area and the vision behind the complex played an important role with the design. Crescendo is located between the wide green of the floodplains of the Maas, a park to be built and the architectural and cultural historical important building; the Nedinsco-factory. The city center is on one side, a residential area on the other side. At Crescendo a high quality of living is combined with all levels of care. It is build life-proof, so the houses are suitable for all life stages. A pleasant, secure environment is created, where residents can feel at home.
13 12 11
On January 11th 2012 over 1,000 participants are expected in Essen for the sixth International Architectural Congress, titled ‘New building with steel - spans, structures, visions’. Internationally-renowned architects and engineers will present current projects and future needs for innovative architecture with long steel span structures.
Mels Crouwel will lecture about visions of urban culture and continuous building with steel. www.stahl-info.de
02 12 11
Port City 3 in the Waalhaven, Rotterdam is nominated for the Rotterdam Architecture Award 2011. This year the theme of the award is commercial and industrial building. The prize is two-fold; a professional award given by a professional jury and an audience award, given by the inhabitants of Rotterdam who can vote online http://www.rotterdam.nl/architectuurprijs.
01 12 11
Joost Vos lectures during the project visit of the IJsei. The new IJ Hall presents a natural counterpart to Cuypers' original station concourse and makes the connection with the new neighborhoods along the IJ and in Amsterdam Noord. For more information: www.bouwenmetstaal.nl/ projectbezoek
25 11 11
The façade of the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam has been unveiled. Friday afternoon, just when dusk set in, the spectacular white main entrance of the museum was officially revealed by means of a lightshow. Speeches were given by the Alderman of Culture of the city of Amsterdam, the director of the museum and the director of the main sponsor, Teijin. The Stedelijk Museum is the first museum that has its entry at the Museumplein. The wing-shaped, cantilevered roof enhances the open transition from Museumplein to the museum and removes any doubts about the location of the main entrance.
24 11 11
The topping out ceremony marked reaching the highest point of Rotterdam Central Station. In march 2011 the building of the steel construction has started. Yesterday the final truss was placed at a height of 30 meters. The building of the new public transport terminal is progressing rapidly and the opening of the new Central Station is expected in 2013.
21 11 11
The first part of the North/South line has been put into use, albeit with a temporary finish. The hall that will connect all metro lines - east/west and north/south - is officially opened today. 90.000 Passengers will spread out from this hall into Amsterdam. The building of the metro station underneath Amsterdam Central Station, at a depth of 18 meters, is still in progress.
15 11 11
The Academic Centre for Dentistry Amsterdam (ACTA) has been nominated for the Hedy D’Ancona Prize 2012. The jury, chaired by Koen van Velsen, has nominated six final projects for outstanding care architecture from no less than 101 entries. The award focuses specifically on the healthcare sector buildings in which urban design, garden and landscape architecture, architecture and/ or interior architecture, support the care concept. Early 2012 all projects are visited by the jury during expert location visits. Halfway next year the winner of the Hedy d'Ancona Prize will be announced.
04 11 11
Benthem Crouwel has won a multiple assignment for a four star hotel in Aachen on the site of the former football field of Alemannia Aachen. The building has a façade of vertical glass fins in a range of colors which addresses both the position at a traffic dominated entrance to the center of Aachen and the proximity to the CHIO area where the World Equestrian Festival is taking place.
06 10 11
A design team consisting of Benthem Crouwel Architects, traffic and cost specialists of Tyréns engineers and landscape architects Mandaworks, both of Malmö, Sweden, have presented their vision on the urban redevelopment of the central station’s area of Lund City, Sweden.
For more information, please refer to www.lund.se and the news item '01 07 11' on this site.
29 09 11
The official start of construction on the Equinix AM3 datacenter was celebrated by pouring the first concrete foundation. The complex will be built by contractor UDD (UnicaDuraVermeerDatacenters) and consists of a data building and an entrance- and office building. Delivery of the first phase is scheduled for September 2012.
21 09 11
Jan Benthem lectures on the symposium 'Station Centraal' at the TU Delft Faculty of Architecture about public transport terminals for the future. Until the end of September, a public exhibition on 10 major station projects in the Netherlands and Belgium will also be presented: www.stationcentraal.eu/.
14 09 11
A huge crowd attended and celebrated the ‘Richtfest’ of the new shopping mall Forum Mittelrhein at Zentralplatz in Koblenz. The mall that Benthem Crouwel designed for ECE will open September 2012.
11 09 11
Architect Job Schroën has held a new workshop for children at the Stedelijk Museum. This time the children made
small museum halls out of plywood. After a hard day’s work the result was
tremendous.
Photographs by: Tomek Dersu Aaron Whitfield
08 09 11
The completely refurbished Lounge 3 at Schiphol Airport was festively re-opened. Besides new shops for the world famous See Buy Fly shopping centre, brand shops, new bars and restaurants are introduced. Benthem Crouwel Naco, together with Merkx + Girod, are responsible for overall and detail design. Design office Tjep styled the Plaza. See: Schiphol TV.
20 07 11
Relations
and press were invited to a preview of the mounting of the façade panels of the
new Stedelijk Museum. The façade will be the largest
structure in the world ever to be made entirely out of seamless composite. As
one of the Stedelijk’s principal sponsors, the Japanese fiber-production
company Teijin is supplying the materials for the composite that is used in the
façade.
Photographs:
Het Parool, Ernst
van Deursen.
01 07 11
In a European tender procedure, the multidiscipline design team consisting
of Benthem Crouwel Architects, traffic and cost specialists of Tyréns engineers
and landscape architects Mandaworks, both of Malmö, Sweden, have been appointed
one of the three finalist teams to develop a vision for the surroundings of the
central station of Lund, Sweden’s second oldest university city.
20 06 11
The extension of the Deutsches Bergbau-Museum is nominated for the Architekturpreis Nordrhein-Westfalen 2011.
09 06 11
The first data center designed by Benthem Crouwel will be one of the most sustainable of its kind. Equinix, a provider of global data center services, announced plans to build their third data center in Amsterdam (AM3). The first phase of the new data center is expected to be completed in the third quarter of 2012. Am3 will be located in Amsterdam Science Park, one of the most carrier-dense locations in Europe with more than 150 networks, and when completed will provide approximately 6,400 square meters of customer floor space. The new Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certified data center will use hot and cold storage in ground wells to avoid the use of powered cooling where possible. Excess heat from the data center will be used to warm nearby buildings and for other third-party uses. The use of sustainable technologies enables Equinix to offer its customers industry-leading data center services and a meaningful reduction in carbon footprint.
19 05 11
Mels Crouwel will give
a lecture ‘Architecture Design in Holland - Designing in the Dark' in the city of Krakow,
Poland. More information: designinginthedark.pl and w-a.pl.
18 05 11
Marten Wassmann will give a lecture with the title 'Raum denken - Raum gestalten - Raum erleben' (Thinking Space - Creating Space - Experiencing Space), on invitation by Lichtakademie Bartenbach, Rinner Straße 14, 6071 Aldrans / Innsbruck in Austria.
The lecture will start at 19.00 hrs at the auditorium (Aula) of the academy. Reservations can be made through lichtakademie@bartenbach.com.
18 04 11
Minister Melanie Schultz van Haegen (infrastructure and environment) gave the signal to start construction of the new public transport terminal of the Hague.
Walk through the new terminal here: Virtual tour Den Haag Nieuw Centraal.
15 04 11
Port City 2 and 3, Rotterdam, are nominated for the ‘BNA Building of the year 2011’ award!
‘The jury is impressed by the simple subtlety and consistent elaboration of these two powerful office buildings. No idle standardization, but thoughtful and balanced. The buildings stand firm in their surroundings, show clear visual properties, they have open configurations, the floor plans are well defined, the use of materials is fine, with clear details, truly everything has been developed with care. They are simply VERY GOOD.’
01 04 11
Construction of the fourth roof of Amsterdam Central Station has started. The contractor works 7 days a week, and often through the night, to build the roof as fast as possible. It is expected that three-quarters of the 360 metre long roof will be completed by the end of 2011. The missing middle part of the roof will be completed in 2013, after finishing the northern part of the North/Southline metro station Central Station.
11 03 11
The design competition for the revitalization of the historic heart of the Swedish lakeside town of Vänersborg has been won by a team consisting of Benthem Crouwel Architects, landscape architects Mandaworks and artist David Svensson, both of Malmö, Sweden. The historic so-called Kulturaxeln (cultural axis) originates from an ingenious urban layout dating from the early 19th century. Kulturaxeln’s redevelopment will re-strengthen the cultural and economic status of the town, a prerequisite for a successful sustainable urban expansion, that is already underway: www.arkitekt.se.
10 03 11
Construction of the bicycle and pedestrian tunnel at Amsterdam Central Station will start this weekend. The 110m long passageway underneath the train tracks connects the inner city with the IJ-river. The design, in cooperation with Merkx + Girod, consists of two C-formed parts marking the division between both users. Floor, wall and ceiling of the pedestrian path are clad in hand formed tiles of traditional size and contain a graphical image by Irma Boom Office.
26 01 11
Construction on site of Benthem Crouwel's shopping mall on the Zentralplatz square in Koblenz has started. Besides the shopping mall, the redevelopment of the square also contains a municipal building for culture, which is also designed by Benthem Crouwel. See: www.koblenz.de.
24 01 11
Construction of Utrecht Central Station started. Minister of Infrastructure and Environment Melanie Schultz van Haegen, Mayor Aleid Wolfsen, Prorail director Bert Klerk and NS director Bert Meerstadt carried out the ceremony on site. The station will be built for 100 million passengers. The opening is planned in 2015.
10 01 11
Benthem Crouwel has won the competition for the new Faculty of Law building (Grotiusgebouw) for the Radboud University Nijmegen. The new building is the first on the Heyendaal Zuid site that is to be redeveloped as a University Campus. The 12.500 m² building (+ 400 parking) will have a BREEAM Excellent score. Benthem Crouwel formed a design team with participation of Karres en Brands for landscaping, Bouwadviesbureau Strackee for civil engineering, Ingenieursbureau Nelissen for mechanical and electrical engineering and building physics and IGG for cost consulting. Completion is scheduled for end of 2013.
20 12 10
Benthem Crouwel architect Job Schroën gave a number of workshops at the Stedelijk Museum. During the workshops 'old or new?' and 'dive into the bathtub', children took a look at the design of the 'bathtub' and created their own models of the new museum. Photographs: Simone Philipsen
20 12 10
Benthem Crouwel's Deutsches Bergbau Museum has won the award 'Auszeichnung guter Bauten NRW 2010'. The competition of the Bund Deutscher Architekten Bochum, Hattingen, Herne und Witten takes place every four years. The project is furthermore nominated for the 'Architecture Award NRW', held in September 2011.
14 12 10
Benthem Crouwel won the first prize in a competition for a climbing tower in Cologne. The 76m high 'Kölner Nordwand' is situated next to Benthem Crouwel's Etrium building and defines the entrance to the Triotop site. The tower is constructed as an open steel structure covered with 3 webs to climb in. Additional functions such as cafe and sauna are hosted in the glass boxes. More info: www.etrium.de, www.triotop-koeln.de.
08 12 10
Construction on site has started of the new Fletcher Tower Hotel along highway A2 in Amsterdam. The iconic round tower has a double skin facade, with a pattern of overlapping blue circles printed on the outer glass layer. From the sky-lounge on top, one has a magnificent view over Amsterdam.
22 11 10
The Muiderbrug has won an honourable mention in the ECSN Concrete Award of Excellence Competition 2010; www.ecsn.net.
08 11 10
The extension of the Deutsches Bergbau Museum in Bochum has won the first prize in the category 'new building' of the Ecola Award.
The Ecola (European conference of leading architects) Award is an award for the use of render/plaster in architecture. See: www.ecola-award.eu and www.bergbaumuseum.de.
15 10 10
The Wilo
building has won the Nationale Staalprijs 2010 / National Steelprize 2010. In the category industrial buildings the jury
praised the building for its careful, consistent and convincing design.
The merits of the principal, Wilo Netherlands,
for realising this unique building are specifically mentioned in the jury
report. More information: www.bouwenmetstaal.nl
20 07 10
For the exhibition Fashion & Architecture at ARCAM, fashion designer Iris van Herpen created together with Benthem Crouwel the dress 'Water'. Source of inspiration for the design is the 'bathtub' of the new Stedelijk Museum. See: www.youtube.com, www.arcam.nl and www.irisvanherpen.com.
07 07 10
The renovated building of the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam was presented to the press. The old building will be temporary used from August 28, 2010 until January 9, 2011 for 'Temporary Stedelijk'. The grand opening of the completely renewed museum is in 2011.
25 05 10
Construction of The Hague Central Station started. The ground-breaking ceremony has been carried out by the Minister of Transport Camiel Eurlings, alderman Marnix Norder and contractor Gert Jan Vos of Strukton. The opening of the new public transport terminal is expected in 2013.
27 04 10
Space.City Lecture: Mels Crouwel at Seattle Central Library. Come hear how Dutch firm Benthem Crouwel has tackled big infrastructure projects and how they built several public projects at landmark locations. Also presented the English edition of BC AD, the most recent book of Benthem Crouwel. More information: http://spacecityseattle.org
22 04 10
Company building Wilo was one of the three finalists of the 'Parteon Architectuurprijs Zaanstreek 2008/09'. According to the jury Wilo is a sustainable building that embodies technical ingenuity and the dynamism of the 21st century: ''real roadside architecture.'' The jury whishes that all company buildings would attain the architectural level of Wilo. A housing complex, Schepenhof, a design by AWG Architecten, was chosen to be the winning project.
21 04 10
The exhibition of the submissions for the Dance and Music Center at The Hague town hall is open to the public until May 7. Among the sixteen entries is Benthem Crouwel/ Merkx + Girod’s spectacular 'bubble' design. May 21 it will be announced which three designs go to the final stage of the competition. See also: www.denhaag.nl
16 04 10
Construction of the Amsterdam Ziggo Dome started. The ground-breaking ceremony has been carried out by aldermen Carolien Gehrels and Maarten van Poelgeest. The new concert hall in Amsterdam is mainly intended for pop music and has capacity for 15.600 visitors. The building will have a facade of red, green and blue LED light fittings, which will allow images to be displayed on the entire building. Opening is expected beginning 2011, but the ‘first’ concert is already given by Roel van Velzen. See also: www.ziggodome.nl Hear architect Job Schroen on: radio2.
24 03 10
The extension of the German Mining Museum in Bochum is one of the new symbols of the Ruhr Area, this year’s Capital of Culture. In this context the museum will be presented and discussed by the Architektenkammer Nordrhein-Westfalen, during the so called Architekturquartett. More information: www.aknw.de and www.baunetz.de
19 03 10
RAI Elicium and pop centre Metropool both nominated Building of the year by the Royal Institute of Dutch Architects. See also www.bnagebouwvanhetjaar.nl.
19 03 10
From March 20 until May 1 the nominees of this year’s Amsterdam Architecture Prize, the 'Gouden A.A.P.' 2010, are shown at an exhibition at ARCAM Amsterdam Centre for Architecture. The RAI Elicium is one of the nominated projects and is also presented in the publication Architecture 2009-2010. April 7 the 'Gouden A.A.P.' will be awarded to the best project realized in Amsterdam in 2009. More information: www.arcam.nl
18 03 10
The new connection for cyclists on the A1 over the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal, built as an separate bridge on the northern side of the Muiderbridge, is completed. This independent cycle bridge, linking Amsterdam and the Gooi and Vecht area, has its structure beneath the surface (a continuous girder supported at two points), which is uncommon for spans of 300 metres. In these exposed conditions, where cars zoom by and container ships pass below, cyclists are protected from wind, feel save and can enjoy the views over the flat Dutch landscape.
17 03 10
De kans te bouwen
Exactly 25 years after being broadcast by the VPRO, ARCAM architecture centre Amsterdam shows the documentary ‘The opportunity to build’, a portrait of the four beginning architects Francine Houben, Jo Coenen, Frits van Dongen and Jan Benthem. After the presentation the architects will discuss the current and future position of the architect, in light of what has happened the past 25 years. More information: www.arcam.nl
01 03 10
By pouring concrete in the foundation of the first pylon, the Minister of Transport Camiel Eurlings started the construction of the spectacular roof of Rotterdam Central Station. This largely transparent roof and solar collector that covers a length of around 250 metres, replaces the original covering of each individual platform. The opening of the new Central Station is expected in 2013.
26 02 10
First metro station North/South Line finished.
The main structure of metro station Europaplein RAI is completed. Eight stations (three above and five below ground) will connect Amsterdam North to the city centre and the South Axis business district in 2017.
04 02 10
Lecture by Jan Benthem about complex commissions at the Netherlands Architecture Institute in Rotterdam. The lecture starts at 20.00 and is open to all interested. More information: www.nai.nl
The same day Mels Crouwel lectures at Bayreuth (Germany). Subject is sustainability. More information: www.regierung.oberfranken.bayern.de
27 01 10
NS Poort, ProRail and the city of Amsterdam signed an agreement for the renewal of Stationseiland and Amsterdam CS. All public transport will be integrated: train, bus, metro, and water transport. The existing station by Pierre Cuypers (1881-1889) will be restored and expanded. The new NorthSouth-Line metro station is underneath the heart of the station.
17 12 09
Out Now BC AD, Benthem Crouwel 1979-2009, a spectacular publication of 010 Publishers. BC AD offers a refreshing new look at the substantial body of work and illuminates the firm’s way of working. With contributions from John Körmeling, Hans Oldewarris, Johannes Schwartz, Koen van Velsen, Roy Villevoye, Marijke van Warmerdam and Edwin Zwakman. The publication is available in bookstores or ordered through www.010.nl. See also www.athenaeum.nl and www.architectura.nl.
12 12 09
Alderman Hans Gerson, responsible for Traffic, Transport and Infrastructure, opened the first phase of the new bus station on the IJ side of Amsterdam Central Station. The bus station is part of the transformation of Stationseiland, the island on which Amsterdam Central Station stands. In the next years the existing station complex by Pierre Cuypers (1881-1889) will be upgraded. All the different kinds of public transport will be weaved together and the main station square will be cleared up. Bus platforms at the same level as train platforms create optimal connections between bus, train and metro. An almost entirely glazed fourth 365-metre long roof will covers the bus station and the pedestrian precinct along the IJ. Completion of the hole transformation, including the new North-South metro line, is expected in 2017.
04 12 09
'Schwarzer Diamant', the extension of the German Mining Museum, one of the most popular museums in Germany, is completed. The new museum in Bochum opened with the exhibition 'Glück auf! Ruhrgebiet - Der Steinkohlenbergbau nach 1945'. The new building is literally a cross-section of a mine: a solid, dark, black cube with illuminated passages and mine shafts. Next year the Ruhr Area is the European Capital of Culture: RUHR.2010. See also www.wdr.de, www.ruhr2010.de and www.bergbaumuseum.de.
18 11 09
The Muiderbrug has been awarded the Dutch Concrete Prize 2009 in the category construction. The jury praised the choice of prefabricated elements for the two 70 meter pylons, allowing the realization of the bridge without too much obstruction for the traffic. Benthem Crouwel designed the bridge in corporation with the engineers of client Rijkswaterstaat (Ministry of Transport, Public Works and Water Management). Contractor is CFE Nederland. See: www.betonvereniging.nl
04 11 09
Pop and cultural centre Metropool in Hengelo opened its doors with a concert of the New Cool Collective. The building houses two pop auditoria, a grand cafe, practice studios and offices.
26 10 09
The B.C.P. Jansen Instituut of the University of Amsterdam is completed. An existing concrete office structure is partly re-used and expanded with new auditorium spaces and transparent lobbies.
14 10 09
At the stand of 010 Publishers, at the Frankfurt Book Fair, the dummy of Benthem Crouwel's new book BC AD is launched. BC AD will be published end of November.
13 10 09
Benthem Crouwel’s project Las Palmas in Rotterdam has won the Benelux Aluminium in Renovation Award competition 2009 in the category 'Non-residential'. Organised by the Aluminium Centrum in Houten, the Netherlands, in cooperation with the Belgium Aluminium Association, the award was presented to the office by head of the jury, Mr Prof. Jan Brouwer.
05 10 09
On Central Europe's largest annual real estate trade fair Expo Real in Munich/Germany, Benthem Crouwel's design for the redevelopment of Zentralplatz square in Koblenz on the river Rhine, Germany, has been presented to the public on the stand of client ECE Projektmanagement of Hamburg. The design comprises a 20.000 m² shopping centre as well as a municipal building for culture, which will hold a regional museum, the city's main library and the central tourist information. The project received a gold label distinguishing for sustainable design from Deutsche Gesellschaft für Nachhaltiges Bauen (DGNB) for the efforts already taken in the design stage to achieve highest standards of sustainability in the project.
29 09 09
His Royal Highness the Prince of Orange has opened the Elicium building. Visible from the A10 ring motorway of Amsterdam, the Elicium building is the new landmark for Amsterdam RAI exhibition and congress centre and the ‘final piece’ of the famous Plan Zuid of H.P. Berlage. A characteristic shape and innovative façade cladding distinguishes this most recent extension to the RAI. See also: www.volkskrant.nl/Elicium_kust_de_RAI_wakker and www.rai-elicium.nl
23 09 09
Construction Crescendo in progress. The elderly housing project in Venlo will be completed in 2011.
14 09 09
On Monday September 14th the groundbreaking ceremony for the Excellence Parking took place. This exceptional parking garage is situated next to the terminal of Amsterdam Airport Schiphol and will be connected to it directly, thus offering travelers a luxury parking facility and efficient check-in. The design by Benthem Crouwel NACO focuses on light and comfort. The building will be finished in spring 2010.
01 09 09
One for the road!
Muiderbrug reaches highest point. Two 70 meter pylons are set almost square to the Amsterdam-Rhine Canal and lean diagonally across the bridge, a step towards an imaginary arc on both the highway A1 and the canal. A new river crossing for cyclists is to be added on the north side of the bridge.
28-30 08 09
At the Uitmarkt, the start of the Dutch cultural season in Amsterdam, the Stedelijk distributed new promotional bags.
27-28 06 09
The Dag van de Architectuur 2009 takes place. Theme this year: Architecture and Mobility. During these two days the public can see different major infrastructure developments up close, including the building sites of the new Central Stations. Benthem Crouwel designed some of them: Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Utrecht, The Hague and the new underground railway station in Delft. See for more information about the open day: www.dagvandearchitectuur.nl
15 06 09
Richtfest ceremony to mark the highest point of the German Mining Museum in Bochum. Director of the museum, Mr. Professor Rainer Slotta and mayor of the city of Bochum, Mrs. Dr. Ottilie Scholz performed the celebration. The 'black diamond', as the new building is called in the German media, forms a cross-section of a mine: dark with illuminated mine galleries and shafts. The new museum will open end of this year.
10 06 09
Topping out ceremony to mark the highest point (60 metres) of the new faculty building for the Academic Centre for Dentistry Amsterdam (ACTA). ACTA is situated on the ambitious development area Zuidas in Amsterdam, overlooking the A10 motorway that encircles the city. The layout of the building, with a bright and inviting central space, is largely geared to the education and research needs of the 850 students, the employees and the 600 patients who are treated daily.
06 06 09
Saturday the 6th of June the ‘Dag van de Bouw’ takes place. Various building sites are open this day. In Amsterdam the public can also get a glimpse of projects of Benthem Crouwel: Amsterdam Central Station and the North-South subway line. The new subway line is Amsterdam’s biggest building project at the moment. Benthem Crouwel made the design for the stations, of which five are underground and linked by a bored tunnel. The project is not only very demanding technically, it also needs extremely careful integration in the existing historic urban texture. See for more information about the open day: http://www.dagvandebouw.nl
13 05 09
The Las Palmas complex in Rotterdam has been awarded the Dutch National Renovation Prize in the category 'commercial and industrial buildings'. The biannual prize is being awarded to the most successful renovation projects in the country. The former main workshops building to the Holland Amerika steamship line, Las Palmas is situated on Rotterdam's new city extension on the south bank of River Maas. Benthem Crouwel Architects has transformed the building into a multifunctional complex. After a building period of two years, it now is the new home to cultural and creative as well as commercial tenants. As a dazzling eye-catcher the new penthouse roof extension anchors the renewed Las Palmas complex in the skyline of the barely 0.1 km² large Wilhelminapier, the future Manhattan of the Netherlands. An excerpt from the jury's verdict reads: 'we are convinced of the building's new appearance, realised through the specialist renovation approach on the existing [1950's] building by architects Van den Broek en Bakema, as well as through the design of the new rooftop extension.' See: www.nationalerenovatieprijs.nl.
25 04 09
Benthem Crouwel architect Job Schroën and his team have again won the Martens building competition. Six teams were selected to build their bridge out of pre-fab concrete elements in one day, and test them to their breaking point the day after. The bridge could resist 44,5 tons of weight, after which the organization ran out of ballast, and the bridge was the only one still standing. The team also won the prize for the most appealing design. More details are published on http://www.bouwwedstrijd.eu.
09 04 09
Villa Arena has a new feature: a cinema for children. In this cinema, also a design of Benthem Crouwel, recent films are shown during opening hours of the home furnishing centre. The elegant, futuristic shape of the cinema fits well with the experiences of children and enriches the Villa Arena with an additional eye-catcher.
08 04 09
Benthem Crouwel has won two limited competitions.
The winning design for the Ponte Palazzo pedestrian bridge in 's-Hertogenbosch makes a connection between the so called Paleiskwartier and the old city centre. The bridge is a park, similar to the Highline in New York and the Promenade Plantee in Paris, constructed out of folded weathering steel. The jury enthusiastically stated: 'The robust appearance in combination with the chosen colour and material is a monumental design that fits the city of 's-Hertogenbosch.'
Benthem Crouwel also won the first prize in a limited competition for a new visitor and research centre at the headquarter of the Heimbach Group in Düren. The Heimbach Group was founded in and produces technical textiles and paper machine clothing with production sites and sales offices in different European countries and Singapore. Two historical monuments, the cradle of the company, had to be integrated into the scheme. The winning scheme is a compact ensemble of four buildings with different functions which create an inner courtyard are covered by a floating white roof which refers to the main product of the global acting company.
27 03 09
Topping up ceremony for Metropool in Hengelo. Architect Marleen van Driel raised the flag, observed by the builders, Hengelo’s Alderman of Culture and the staff of the new stage for pop music.
16 03 09
Today the last pole for Port City 2 and 3, two office buildings in the Waalhaven Rotterdam designed by Benthem Crouwel, is celebrated. This ground breaking ceremony took place in presence of the famous Dutch vocalist and ‘ambassador’ of the harbour in Rotterdam Lee Towers. The buildings are part of a complex of office buildings, standing on a public ‘deck’, with a parking garage underneath.
The design is inspired by the spectacular view of the harbour with it's colourful containers, cranes, ships and silo’s. The project must set an example for new developments in the Waalhaven. The opening of Port City 2 and 3 is expected in spring 2010.
23 02 09
The new building for the Academic Centre for Dentistry is under construction. This week, in the evening, the six steel frames of the cantilever block on top of the already built seven-storey base will be installed. You can get a view of this impressive construction on the webcam http://212.123.205.51/view/index.shtml. The building will be taken into use in 2010.
28 01 09
The new concert hall in Amsterdam is called Ziggo Dome, named after the new sponsor. The hall, a design of Benthem Crouwel, is mainly intended for pop music and has capacity for 15.600 visitors. The Dome is situated next to the Villa Arena home furnishing centre, also a design of Benthem Crouwel. Opening is expected beginning 2011.
28 01 09
On January the 15th 2009, client Rainer Schäfer from STRABAG Real Estate introduced the concept for the ‘Bel Etage’ to the public in Aachen. This project is located in the city center of Aachen and will create space for high-grade retail which is situated around an ‘expanded urban space’. The top floor will accommodate restaurants and bars, which have direct access to a grand roof terrace with a spectacular view to the Aachen Cathedral and the historical town hall. The concept is based on the design of Benthem Crouwel Architects, which was awarded the first price in a competition, held in June 2006.
27 01 09
The new extension of P60 – a venue for pop music, culture and media - is official opened by Frans Hellendall, Alderman for Culture of the city of Amstelveen. The opening took place a year after the groundbreaking ceremony. The extension includes a covered load- and unload dock, 3 studios, 2 backstage spaces and offices.
12 01 09
Client Anton Bausinger received the first golden ‘Gütesiegel’ from the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Nachhaltiges Bauen (DGNB) for the Etrium, the headquarters of Econcern, Cologne. The Etrium is the first building of Benthem Crouwel in Germany and the first ‘Passivhaus’ office building in Nordrhein-Westfalen. The rating was done by Gerhard Hoffmann and his ifes (Institut für angewandte Energie- und Strömungssimulation). They received the ‘medal’ from the German minister for building, Wolfgang Tiefensee, and Werner Sobeck, the president of the DGNB during the convention ‘Bauen für die Zukunft – nachhaltig und energieeffizient’ in Munich. The golden ‘Gütesiegel’ is in Germany the highest rate for sustainability. The German certification standard commands higher requirements than for example LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design).
19 12 08
Carolien Gehrels, Alderman of Culture of the City of Amsterdam and its representative as client for the building work at the museum, attended a ceremony to mark the completion of excavations for the Stedelijk's new annex. She spoke briefly about the construction process and schedule, announcing that the hand-over of the entire building is expected to take place in December 2009, after which the museum can re-open to the public in March/April 2010. The completion of the foundations is an important milestone: now that the basement has also been pumped out and the roof can be made watertight, it will be possible to position the steel skeleton of the 'bathtub' and cover it with Twaron fibre panels. This will be accomplished in 2009. The construction process can be followed via www.stedelijkindestad.nl, with short films about the building work, an animation of the new building and interviews with Mels Crouwel and others.
13 12 08
The exhibition Holy Inspiration, religion and spirituality in modern art. Stedelijk Museum in De Nieuwe Kerk started. The Stedelijk Museum shows over 80 highlights from its collection in De Nieuwe Kerk on the Dam in Amsterdam. Many of the works displayed by Mondriaan, Malevich, Chagall, Schnabel, Barnett Newman, Rothko, Bacon, Gilbert & George, Mike Kelley and Marlene Dumas have not been seen for years and are now taken on a different dimension in the context of De Nieuwe Kerk. Benthem Crouwel, together with Concern, is responsible for the design: exhibition spaces in the form of a red cross, placed in the centre of the huge vertical space of the church.
10-11 12 08
As designers of the refurbishment and extension of the New Stedelijk Museum, Benthem Crouwel participated in the Design Week of the Hong Kong Design Centre; Asia’s leading international conference dedicated to design, brand and innovation. Benthem Crouwel contributed to the exhibition and to a Forum session. On December 10th, the exhibition was officially opened in presence of guests of honour Mr. Hon. Timothy Fok Tsun Ting and drs. Robert Schuddeboom, Consul General at the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Hong Kong. The three-part Forum event was held at Innocentre, Kow Loon on December the 11th. Here Ingeborg de Roode, curator at the Stedelijk Museum, Marten Wassmann, partner at Benthem Crouwel and Gilian Schrofer, designer of the museum’s restaurant facilities, gave lectures about the New Stedelijk Museum.
08 12 08
After only 15 months of planning and construction the Etrium, the new German headquarter of Econcern in Cologne, has been committed to the user. The grand opening of this first office building in Cologne that is qualified as a 'passive house', took place with the attendance of federal state secretary of commerce Mrs. Christa Thoben and the mayor of the city of Cologne, Mr. Fritz Schramma. Econcern, a market leader in sustainable energy, wants Etrium to set an example. Etrium consumes something like a fifth of the energy used by comparable office complexes. The building has three storeys ranged round an atrium, a spectacular glass-covered court drawing daylight and air into the entire building.
25 11 08
The Las Palmas redevelopment project in Rotterdam has won the Job Dura Prize 2008. According to the jury, the project is an 'exemplary restoration and redevelopment of a listed building'. Besides for a thorough renovation of the edifice, originally designed by architectural firm Van den Broek en Bakema of Rotterdam in the 1950’s, Benthem Crouwel was responsible for the design of a new roof extension, the so-called Penthouse Las Palmas. 'An important improvement in quality of the Rotterdam skyline', the jury’s verdict states, 'the Penthouse has turned the complex into an icon'. More details on the Prize are published on http://www.jobdurafonds.nl
See the ‘Culture’ and ‘Office’ sections of our website for further information on the Las Palmas project.
04 11 08
P60, a venue for pop music, culture and media in Amstelveen, has been enlarged. An increase in the number of visitors and performances necessitated the construction of an extension at the rear. Since it first opened in 2001, P60 has grown into a major venue with some 40,000 visitors and 160 activities each year. The new extension, which contains a sheltered loading bay, a new backstage, offices and rehearsal rooms, is to allow operations to proceed more smoothly. The demand for rehearsal space has been met in pioneering spirit by integrating studios in the new extension into the main supporting structure using the box-within-a-box principle. Dutch rock band De Dijk were the first to play in the redesigned P60 with a sell-out concert on October 16th.
17 10 08
Glück auf! Laying the foundation stone of the extension of Deutsches Bergbau-Museum Bochum is celebrated. Director of the museum, Mr. Professor Rainer Slotta, mayor of the city of Bochum, Mrs. Dr. Ottilie Scholz, Mr. Ulrich Weber (Evonik Industries AG) and Markus Sporer, architect of Benthem Crouwel layed the foundation stone of the new building.The 'black diamond' will provide space for special exhibitions and events and for the existing exhibition of the portrait of St. Barbara, the most important patroness of the miners. It will be completed in the summer of 2009.
15 10 08
Jan Benthem researching the stability of his new house. Today construction started at the shipyard. The house, which will be finished in summer 2009, will be part of the experimental floating city Steigereiland on IJburg, the new suburb in the IJmeer of Amsterdam.