Project detailsx

Client: Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam
Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands
Year: 2012
Surface: 2700 m2
Material: Twaron en koolstofvezel.
Specifics: Monolithic appearance, exterior finish on site as if it were a mega yacht sprayed, there are 8500 kilometers of carbon and aramid fiber processed.

One of our most high-profile projects; the composite facade of the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. And one of the few projects that immediately received a national nickname, ‘the bathtub’.

It was clear from the very beginning that this would be a technically very challenging but realizable project. A 2700 m², white, shiny and seamless composite surface that floats above the Amsterdam Museumplein; that was the idea of ​​Benthem Crouwel Architects for maximum contrast with the original building of the museum.

Without wanting to think in terms of ever bigger, higher, further, the Stedelijk Museum is, to our knowledge, the largest plastic object in the world. In any case, it is the largest seamless structural composite building construction to date.

An iconic building that has been made possible by applying the combination of carbon and aramid fibers. Due to an opposite reaction to temperature changes, this combination ensures minimal expansion of the material. These unique properties of the fibers make the seamless and smooth facade of more than 100 meters in length possible.

The chosen combination of the selected aramid and carbon fibers thus ensures minimal expansion and shrinkage of the material at temperature differences. An important property for a facade of this size, which must appear to exist optically in one piece. For comparison; materials such as concrete, glass and aluminum expand at least 175 millimeters when the temperature rises from -20 to +50 degrees Celsius. With an expansion of that size, seams must be installed in the façade and that would disturb the image of a smooth façade.

Nice detail, we have used over 8500 kilometers of advanced fiber material.

Development, production, transport and assembly by Holland Composites.