A little-loved modernist central bank building gets a second chance in central Amsterdam.
Courtesy of De Nederlandsche Bank
Dutch Central Bank Restores Amsterdam’s ‘Ugliest Building’
Following a €320 million renovation by Dutch architecture firm Mecanoo, the once-ridiculed De Nederlandsche Bank building is more open and sustainable.
Once called the “ugliest building in the country,” the Dutch central bank’s headquarters in Amsterdam reopened its doors this month after a major renovation designed with sustainability in mind.
Designed by architect Marius Duintjer and completed in 1968 near the city center, the original De Nederlandsche Bank building was a square, bulky fortress, joined in 1991 by a looming tower. It was slammed by residents for blocking sunlight to neighboring streets. “Every Amsterdammer has mentally already demolished this building, including a few central bank staffers,” former mayor Eberhard van der Laan once said.