Music Building / BIMhuis

Front cafe in the evening.

Project details

• Project Name: Het Muziekgebouw / BIMhuis (Music Building / BIMhuis)
• Client: Municipality of Amsterdam
• Project Type: Public building
• Architect: 3XN Architects / Kim Herforth Nielsen, Bo Boje Larsen, Kim Christiansen
• Design Team: Kim Herforth Nielsen (principal architect) with Palle Holsting (project managing architect), Rasmus Kristian Holm, Torben Ostergaard, Ole Ostergaard, Uffe Bay-Schmidt, Flemming Christiansen, Eva Hard, Troels Chresten Hojlund, Poul Jorgensen.
• Local Architect: ABT
• Contractor/s: BAM BV, The Netherlands
• Date of commencement of project: 1997
• Date of completion of project: 2005
• Location of site: Piet Heinkade 1, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
• Built-up Area: 18.000 m²
• Cost of Construction: € 45,000,000

Words from the 3XN Architects on Het Muziekgebouw / BIMHUIS (Music Building / BIMhuis)

Situation

The Music Building has a unique location at the head of Piet Heinkade.

It faces the Fjord Ij on two sides, and also the canal of Zouthaven and the bypassing road.

It has a fourth facade towards the tall, neighboring hotel and the suspended plaza, and last, but not least, a fifth facade towards the sky; visible to the hotel residents and cruise ship passengers. This highly exposed location is exploited to all of it's potential.

Three important aspects have been addressed:

• Transparency - the building reveals its interior.
• Light - a flood of daylight shapes the elements. At night time light is given back, turning the building into a lantern.
• Human - being a landmark gesture towards the Ij, the building is never the less dissolved into human scale details on approach.

Foyer decks for Muziekgebouw in Public hall.

The BIMhuis

The BIMhuis is a jazzclub - all inclusive. Staying at the terrace at the pier head or sitting inside the BIMhuis, ready for a mellow jazz concert, gazing out of the large bay window, you can enjoy the twilight hour, when Amsterdam switches to electricity.

The BIMhuis box reaches out in an inviting gesture towards Zouthaven and the city. It's supported by two double columns inside the rectangle of the Muziekcentrum and on a V-column resting on the pier. The suspension of the BIM box provides a canopy for the main entrance below.

The concert hall and the BIM cafe are on the second level, while the back stage area, dressing rooms, rehearsal rooms and the offices are on the 1st Floor.

'Gorge' between Muziekgebouw and BIMhuis.

Public Hall

The design of The Public Hall suggests a variation of spaces; vertical, horizontal, narrow, wide, canyon like, stairs, suspended objects, floating floors... This is where everything begins and ends; where people meet and gather before and after concerts.

In urbanistic terms it is a huge covered plaza; in building-terms it is the foyer for BIMhuis, Het Muziekgebouw and The Documentation Centre, but also a multipurpose hall. Therefore, on top of being a Music Centre with focus on musical performances, other artistic and social events find their scene here as well.

Transparency is ever present. The glass facades and the roof serves as a shield from the weather conditions; the effect inside is an extension of the outdoor season.

The Public Hall is a continuous space starting at the highest level of the wood covered plinth. The plinth provides a topography connecting all different levels in the building. From an elevated position connected to the hotel, it moves downwards to the front, where it ends below the cantilevered roof.

The outdoor space in front signifies the connection to the city and creates a platform for large scale manifestations and for the "Parc Sonore".

Lighting walls inside Concert Hall of the Muziekgebouw's.

Het Muziekgebouw

Het Muziekgebouw, is the Dutch name of the large concert hall, simply meaning The Music Building. This concert hall replaces the existing institution called the Ijsbreker, situated elsewhere in Amsterdam. It is placed furthermost to the water and appears as a heavy, solid box, cast in concrete with an acoustically right box-in-box construction.

The Muziekgebouw is a fully-equipped concert hall for a classical repertoire, which is becoming increasingly broader and more varied.

The Muziekgebouw shows current musical developments in the form of festivals, thematic projects, multimedia concerts and special series, which continually forge links with other eras, styles, cultures and art forms.

Apart from the multifunctional main auditorium, with seating for 735 or standing room for 1,500, the institution also comprises a smaller auditorium seating 100, both with foyers and extensive conference and catering facilities.

The roof can vary extensively in height in order to tune exact acoustical needs for each concert.

The floor of the concert hall is flexible as well; it can vary in height in order to create possibility for flat floor concerts and standard podium set up.

The facility spaces for the concert hall (storage, dressing rooms, rehearsal rooms etc.) are located in the plinth.

Loading and unloading of goods takes place in a covered loading dock inside the plinth. The new Muziekgebouw provides ensembles, composers and makers of music theatre with their own place.

The stage and auditorium capacity can be adjusted better than ever before to the specific wishes of composers and musicians. Ensembles and organizations can rehearse and run their offices there. Musicians, composers and audiences can enjoy this building to the full in the refreshing climate of the Ij.

Documentary centre / offices

The office block contains approx. 1.600 m² net floor space. The users have not yet decided on the location of the different organizations on specific levels.

The Documentation centre, however, is located below the office block providing a direct access to the offices of the Donemus and Gaudeamus.

The library has a direct access from Public Hall, and a facade towards the suspended plaza between the Muziekgebouw / BIMhuis and the hotel. This location provides a good accessibility for the users of the library.

One may access the offices from the Public Hall and directly from the parking garage via lifts.

The atmosphere in the offices is intended to be "atelier like"; the layout is flexible (light walls) and can be subdivided into larger or smaller units.

Credits

• Text, Courtesy of 3XN Architects
• Photographs by Adam Mork, Courtesy of 3XN Architects
• Compiled and Edited by Varun M Ajani