ILLUSTRATOR: MICHAEL KIRKHAM WRITER: JOHN WEICHKEY SITES OF THE NEW
HOUTHAVEN DISTRICT- PVH Europe HQ
Balancing on the edge of the Danzigerkade,
this museum-like monolith, built by
MVSA Architects, is home to PVH, the
parent company of Tommy Hilfiger and
Calvin Klein. The waterside micro-park
offers panoramic views of heavy industry,
but if you can secure a ticket inside to
the employees’ spacious café, it’s all
sweetness and lightness. Danzigerkade 165 - REM Eiland
The Houthaven is full of industrial
throwbacks, but none more accessible than
this former radio broadcasting platform-
turned-restaurant. The platform was
relocated to the harbour from the North
Sea in 2011, but still offers killer views.
Haparandadam 45-2 - Brandt & Levie
From purveyors of artisanal popcorn
to producers of handcrafted pancakes,
the Houthaven is home to a large number
of cheeky local brands. The most iconic
is sausage maker Brandt & Levie, whose
working butchery-cum-cafe brings you eye
to eye with your nibble. Archangelkade 9 - Theater Amsterdam
In a city chock-full of theatres, this 700-seat
waterfront glass box seems like an urban
outlier. But the theatre solidifies the area’s
cultural agenda and ensures a steady stream
of drama kings and queens. Danzigerkade 5 - Rockstart
This entrepreneurial start-up hub is a little
taste of Silicon Valley in Amsterdam. Once
a fixture on the city’s historic canals, it’s
now trailblazing a new neighbourhood as
hipsters and hustlers share working spaces
and organise events inside this enormous,
non-descript industrial space. Rigakade 10 - Blok O
Don’t be put off by the structure’s
Soviet name. Blok O is an entire street of
visually enticing housing units, ranging
from micro-lofts to penthouses, designed
by various architects in close collaboration
with future residents. Houthavenkade - Pontsteiger
At 90m high, the Arons & Gelauff-designed
Pontsteiger is one of Amsterdam’s tallest
residential towers and the district’s most
conspicuous beacon. The source of wild
real-estate speculation, it quickly gained
fame as home to the city’s most expensive
penthouse. Pontsteiger 1-389 - Baut
After popping up in various monumental
venues around town, this restaurant, a
self-proclaimed ‘moving circus’, has set up
its newest tent in the Houthaven. Baut’s
vagabond spirit has made it beloved as
much for its upbeat vibe as its exciting
cuisine. Spaarndammerstraat 460 - BAK
Technically, BAK overlooks the Houthaven
rather than lies in it. But hidden away
in a converted warehouse in the Western
Docklands, this veggie-led restaurant,
headed up by young chef Benny Blisto, is on
every Dutch foodie’s hitlist. Ethical cuisine
with a view. Van Diemenstraat 408
010204060508090703When Amsterdam commissioned the 19th-
century Dutch architect Pierre Cuypers
to seal off its medieval harbour with the grand
Central Station, the city officially turned its
back to the water. It took more than a century
for the city to turn back around. Today,
the vast swaths of abandoned shipyards
and brackish terrain along the IJ waterfront
have become the city’s most frantic building
sites. The Houthaven (lumber port) is the
first of many new waterfront districts
currently taking shape. Still a few years from
completion, it is already clear that the
Houthaven has little reverence for the past.Instead of dilapidated storage warehouses,
you’ll find warehouse-inspired residences.
And while still surrounded by the active
cranes of heavy industry, the neighbourhood’s
future is in creative industries. Tommy
Hilfiger, Calvin Klein, Toms, Diesel and Aegis
have already moved their HQs here, bringing
a fashionable crowd in their wake. Only a
15-minute bike ride from Central Station, the
Houthaven promises to be a chic and self-
sufficient district for the city’s rising creative
class – for the time being anyway. It’s a
pioneer town with intriguing amenities that
have set the stage for its future success.Port of call
The Amsterdam district making waves on the waterfront∑
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