The OMA / Reinier de Graaf-designed nhow Amsterdam RAI Hotel has reached its highest point of construction at a height of 91 meters. With 25 floors and 650 hotel rooms, it will be one of the largest hotels in the Benelux.
Located next to the RAI Amsterdam Convention Center, and connected via an underground concourse, nhow Amsterdam RAI will be a high-quality headquarters hotel for visitors, exhibitors, speakers and organizing teams onsite. The hotel, operated under NH Hotel Group’s nhow brand family (NH Hotel Group), will also serve as a new hub for business travellers, tourists and Amsterdam locals alike, with high-end gastronomy, spa facilities, conference rooms and lounges.
Construction update. Image © Walter Herfst courtesy of OMA
“Amsterdam taxi drivers are the kind of people who tell you their honest opinion. Whenever we pass the RAI Nhow Hotel, their unsolicited comments are positive without exception. As the architect, I take this as a big compliment.”
Construction update. Image © Walter Herfst courtesy of OMA
With its three characteristic triangular volumes, stacked in such a way that the floor plan of the building rotates 60 degrees with each ascending volume, the design takes inspiration from the once-famous triangular advertisement post called ‘Het Signaal’ (The Signal) on Europaplein, the square in front of the RAI.
Model photography. Image © Frans Parthesius courtesy of OMA
Gert-Wim Bos from COD: “The building looks astonishing and already makes welcome addition to the Amsterdam skyline. This has been an immensely complicated project, but we are delighted with the progress made. We are on track for an early 2020 opening.”
night landscape view. Image © OMA
Bas van Dam, CEO at Being Development: “The topping out ceremony is a culmination of a lot of hard work by the team, there were a lot of challenges with this project, which required everyone involved to pull together to make it happen, it is great to see that the end is finally in sight.”
The Project
Nhow Amsterdam RAI Hotel will be the main hotel for RAI Amsterdam convention and exhibition centre and a new urban presence in Amsterdam’s rapidly developing Zuidas business district. It is to be the largest hotel of the Benelux, with 650 rooms in total. The complex, including a restaurant, bar, and a live television studio, provides places for work as well as entertainment, also after the opening hours of events in the RAI.
View from RAI plaza. Image © OMA
The three shifted triangular volumes of the new Nhow Amsterdam RAI Hotel are a unique addition to Amsterdam’s skyline. The shape of the 91-metre building draws from the triangular advertising column on the Europaplein which was once so prominent on the site, but now has been overtaken by the many office buildings that have been erected in its vicinity.
The hotel’s facade is made of aluminum and a filling of glass panels. The building has 24 floors, of which 19 floors are occupied by the hotel, each floor accommodating 24 to 36 hotel rooms.
The hotel lobby is spread over two floors, with separately rentable retail spaces on the ground floor and a hotel lounge and bar on the first floor. At the Eastern side of the building, there is space for the loading and unloading of goods, taxi stands, a drop-off for bus passengers and access to the parking in the basement. Its two storey basement will contain 200 parking spaces, technical installation areas and a large part of the so-called “back-of-house” program of the hotel.
The building hosts public and semi-public facilities on its top floors, which are accessible through a lift from the hotel lobby and provide a spectacular panoramic view of Amsterdam. This area, named On Air, includes meeting and conference rooms, lounges and a broadcasting studio, from which a daily television show can be recorded. On Air is accessible both for hotel guests and other visitors.
Facade at night. Image © OMA
Nhow Amsterdam RAI hotel further integrates the RAI convention and exhibition centre into the Zuidas, also through the incorporation of the dense flows of pedestrians, cyclists and automotive traffic that traverse the site.
Night view. Image © OMA
© OMA
The project is developed by COD with Being Development, and is expected to open to the public early 2020.
News courtesy of OMA
Status: Construction
Client: COD (Cradle of Development)
Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Site: Amsterdam Zuidoost, Europaboulevard
Program: Hotel, Restaurant, Congress, Broadcasting Studio
Partner-in-Charge: Reinier de Graaf, Rem Koolhaas (competition)
Associate in charge: Michel van de Kar
Competition Team: Phase 1: Anton Anikeev, Marc -Achille Filhol, Alain Fouraux, Mark Veldman, Peter Rieff Phase 2: Eugenia Bevz, Geraldine van Dijk, Alain Fouraux, Aris Gkitzias, Hans Larsson, Stavros Gargaretas, Yushang Zhang
Schematic Team: Marc-Achille Filhol, Alain Fouraux, Michel van de Kar, Roza Matveeva, Jonathan Telkamp
Design Development Team: Ido den Boer, Paloma Bule, Katrien van Dijk, Alain Fouraux, Michel van de Kar, Edward Nicholson, Lukasz Skalec, Magdalena Stanescu
Contractor: Pleijsierbouw, G&S Bouw BV
Structure: Van Rossum Raadgevende Ingenieurs
MEP & Vertical circulation: Techniplan Adviseurs BV
BREEAM consultant: Techniplan Adviseurs BV
Fire consultant: Royal HaskoningDHV
Acoustic consultant: Royal HaskoningDHV
BIM coordinator: Van den Berg Groep