Club RAUM

The staples remain on the dancefloor

On the floor of Studio, the upstairs room, the staples from the bookbindery that occupied this 1960s industrial building remain. Club RAUM opened there on April 19, 2024, at the corner of Humberweg and Basisweg, in the Westpoort port area, a short walk from Sloterdijk: a concrete volume you arrive at on purpose.

Behind it are Sven Bijma and Diego Meijers. Since 2017, they ran SPIELRAUM, a queer electronic party without a fixed venue, first at Radion and later at Garage Noord. In 2023, they found the bookbindery through Temporary Palaces and commissioned the interior from Joaquin Valdes and Bram van Grinsven, nightlife regulars and architects working on their first club. Valdes started from the concept of heterotopia: a real space that suspends outside rules, with alternative routes so as not to force people through a narrow hallway.

Half a year of noise and suspicion

Conversations with the City Council began in 2021. The building was ready by October 2023 and the opening weekend sold out, but the permit did not arrive. The port objected that a nightclub would take away sound space from the industry; in Nieuw-West, the processing dragged on and insulation had to be added. In December, Bijma and Meijers spoke before the council and Mayor Femke Halsema, with the support of the Councilor for Culture, Meliani. The police treated the audience's dress code as a risk of conflict with other businesses in the area. Bijma described it as discriminatory: at Lofi, about 500 meters away, SPIELRAUM had not caused that problem. The license was sent on March 27, 2024, and they opened on April 19.

Two dancefloors that want different things

Upstairs, Studio was conceived as an open and collective room, capable of moving from house to electro, trance, or techno without being tied to a genre. Downstairs, Expo was born small and dark, managed to host Freddy K, Rødhåd, or Ellen Allien, and fell short. In 2026, that floor was rebuilt as Nexus, inaugurated on September 11 and 12 during a SPIELRAUM Weekender: labyrinthine corridors, shadow, a custom Funktion-One system, and acoustic treatment by Chrissie Quast, head of sound. The lighting by Ben Kreukniet and Albert van Abbe also reorders the rest of the building. The club is only finished the day it closes for the last time.

The night without witnesses

Entry is from 21 years old, with ID, and a ticket does not guarantee entry. In the queue, groups are limited to three. Inside, there are no photos or videos: they cover the mobile camera with a sticker, and glasses with recording capabilities result in expulsion. The code excludes suits, uniforms, office wear, and team merchandise, and requires closed-toe footwear. The awareness team, wearing black vests or yellow t-shirts, covers consent, discomfort, or intoxication. There are lockers, benches, and an outdoor smoking area. The wheelchair access does not yet cover the entire building; the code of conduct leaves it as an ongoing project.

The day also belongs to the club

In February 2025, with the Amsterdams Fonds voor de Kunst, they began three-month residencies for artists, designers, researchers, and writers from the queer and nightlife culture: a stipend, 200 m² of workspace, and a presentation during a club weekend. The house itself wants to function during the day, not just when the dancefloor is playing. In its definition, RAUM means space, and that space is never complete.