Transformation of former Palace of Justice into hotel

Luxury hotel with long history

The former Palace of Justice in Amsterdam is currently being transformed into a luxury hotel for Rosewood Hotels & Resorts. The design comes from architectural firm Kentie & Partners. This involved careful consideration of the building's history, architectural changes over the years and its function within Amsterdam's city center.

The architectural firm has years of experience in the restoration of historic buildings and their transformation into luxury hotels. The firm previously signed on to design well-known hotels in Amsterdam such as Soho House, American Hotel, Grand Hotel Amrath and the just-opened The Hoxton Lloyd. "When it comes to transforming a historic building into a hotel, you quickly come to us," says Ray Kentie of Kentie & Partners. "When designing this property, its contribution to the city was an important point for the municipality. It had to be a community building with multiple functions. It also had to accommodate the Indian Community Club. It will have its own space in the building and it will house a large, Indian restaurant. A terrace will be built on the extra-wide quay."

Together with fellow architect Manon Becking, Kentie began working on the sketches. What is striking about the design: the total floor area is over 20,000 m2 and there will be "only" 132 rooms in the hotel. Becking: "There will be many general areas for events and meetings and a large wellness and fitness center with indoor pool. Each of the three large courtyards will soon have its own character. One of them is covered and with a ballroom included in the design."

Making choices

The building went through many changes over the years, Kentie points out. "Some rooms still had a monumental appearance, others were dilapidated and had outdated ceilings. So it was up to us to make choices in consultation with the Monumentenzorg (National Trust): what are we going to do and how do we tackle it?" Originally, the building was built as a chaplain's orphanage in the 17th century. Around 1825, it was converted into the Palace of Justice after a design by architect Jan de Greef. At the end of the 19th century, architect W.C. Metzelaar carried out another major renovation, especially of the interior. It was up to the two architects to see which elements could be preserved or restored. Kentie: "The combination was important. Much of the structure of the orphanage is still standing, but a lot was also already gone. The entrances from the middle came from De Greef. We made sure that the building goes from quite introverted to more extroverted by creating four new entrances from the wings. The main entrance was brought back to De Greef's design, right down to the floor, wall and ceiling."

Energy consumption

After a long period of consultations with the municipality, historic preservation and the client, and a lot of planing of the design, the stripping and demolition of the building could begin in 2020. Technically still quite a challenge. For there were cellars under the patios on two levels, for which sheet pile walls had to be vibrated into the ground. A steel structure was temporarily installed for this purpose. Among other things, the cellars will house service areas: ideal for placing all technical installations out of sight. A good example is the WKO, which keeps the building's energy consumption low. In addition, the building is now well insulated, partly due to the use of vacuum glass. Kentie: "This is thin glass with a one-mm cavity between two layers that is vacuumed. This makes the insulation value equal to that of triple glass, while it can be used in old windows. A very nice solution and a novelty for Amsterdam."

Continuous contact

In mid-2024, the hotel will be commissioned. The general contractor is expected to finish construction work by the end of 2023. Then there will be time to install the interior, to a design by Piet Boon and Sagrada. The architects are still working on the project daily. Becking: "There is ongoing contact with the contractor. Because it is an existing building, she regularly encounters surprises during her work that have to be solved on site. We assist with that."