Construction Starts at Amsterdam Museum
Construction has commenced on the renovation and transformation of the Amsterdam Museum. Four centuries after the former Burgerweeshuis first became part of the city and one hundred years after the founding of the Amsterdam Museum, the building enters a new phase in its continuing history.
The start of construction was marked in the historic boys’ courtyard, where Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema, Amsterdam Museum Director Judikje Kiers, architect Michiel Riedijk and contractor Salverda Bouw secured the protective enclosure around the Jan van Speijk memorial plaque. The symbolic act reflects the guiding principle of the project: to preserve the historic fabric with the utmost care while adapting the complex to the needs of a contemporary museum.
A Building That Has Always Changed
The Amsterdam Museum occupies the former Burgerweeshuis, one of Amsterdam’s most significant historic building complexes. Over four centuries, the ensemble has continuously evolved, accommodating changing functions while retaining its architectural identity. Rather than returning the monument to a single moment in time, the design recognises this process of continual transformation as an essential part of its heritage.
The project therefore treats the existing building as a living structure. Historic spaces, architectural elements and traces of successive periods are preserved, restored and made legible, while carefully integrated contemporary interventions enable the museum to function as a cultural institution for the twenty-first century.
Following an extensive design process in close collaboration with the Amsterdam Museum, the Municipality of Amsterdam and heritage authorities, the design was approved by the Amsterdam City Council in 2021. The environmental permit became irrevocable in 2024. Construction is now underway.
Old and New as One Architectural Whole
The architectural intervention is based on a simple principle: existing and new architecture should reinforce one another. Historic elements—including the cloisters, monumental doors, timber roof structures, orphanage lockers and centuries-old water pumps—are carefully restored and remain integral to the experience of the renewed museum. New additions are conceived as contemporary layers within the historic fabric, clarifying circulation, improving accessibility and creating the environmental conditions required for the museum’s collection.
At the heart of the project is the new Stadshal, an open public space that reconnects the museum with the city. More than an entrance hall, it forms a civic interior where visitors, neighbours and passers-by can move freely through the complex. In this way, the museum once again becomes part of Amsterdam’s everyday urban life.
Rather than contrasting old and new, the project brings them together into a coherent architectural composition in which every period contributes to the identity of the whole. The result is not a restored monument or a new building inserted into an old one, but a museum that continues the history of the place through architecture.
Construction will continue over the coming years, with the renewed Amsterdam Museum scheduled to open its doors in 2030.
We congratulate Amsterdam Museum and the Municipality of Amsterdam on reaching this important milestone. Together with TPAHG Architecten, Pieters Bouwtechniek, Deerns, ABT and Salverda Bouw, we look forward to the realisation of this exceptional project.