Composite Facade – Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam

The composite facade of the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam is one of our most talked-about projects. 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 feasible project. A 2,700 m², white, glossy and seamless composite surface, floating above the Amsterdam Museumplein. That was the idea of Benthem Crouwel Architects, to create maximum contrast with the original museum building.

The new building at the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam 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 was partly made possible by applying a combination of carbon and aramid fibres. Due to an opposite reaction to temperature changes, this combination ensures minimal expansion of the material. These unique properties of the fibres make the seamless and smooth composite façade of more than 100 metres in length possible.