NDSM Loods

The twenty-meter blue doors pull apart as if they still had to swallow a ship's hull. What enters now is the crowd, spotlights, and bass. On the north bank of the IJ, the former shipbuilding hall of the NDSM shipyard is the venue the electronic circuit knows as NDSM Warehouse: not a club with fixed nights, but an industrial cathedral that is set up for raves, the Amsterdam Dance Event, and large-scale productions.

A hall designed for ships, occupied by the dance floor

Commissioned in 1922-1923 for the Nederlandsche Scheepsbouw Maatschappij, the Scheepsbouwloods spans some 20,000 m²—nearly four football fields—with steel trusses, skylights, and a continuous concrete floor. The shipyard, born from the 1946 merger between NSM and NDM, became one of the most modern in the world and closed in 1984. The void was filled by artists; the 1999 municipal competition was won by the group Kinetisch Noord, established in 2000. Since 2002, they have had access to the immense interior floor; in 2006, the large loods, the exterior, and the slipways passed to the foundation, which remains the owner and manager. In 2007, the complex was granted national monument status and the Kunststad hull was handed over.

ADE, DGTL and renting the night

Stichting Kinetisch Noord programs and rents out the hall for exhibitions, markets, filming, congresses, and dance parties. The Amsterdam Dance Event includes the venue on its map of locations, and DGTL has hosted its ADE nights here—house, UK garage, melodic techno—with sets that, during those events, go until 06:30. The internal operator NDSM Producties works with four spaces: the Noordstrook, a hall over twenty meters high designed for stages; the Underskate; the Winterkathedraal, climate-controlled for winter; and the 200 m² Theater, explicitly advertised for club nights. There is no resident club sound system published: each production company brings its own rigging, and the Noordstrook ceiling is prepared for audiovisuals. The capacity varies according to the setup, from intimate formats to productions for thousands of people, also outdoors.

Kunststad and rave under the same iron

One-third of the loods is the Kunststad: some 85 workshops and more than 250 artists, designers, and tradespeople. Above the old skate park, NDSM Fuse exhibits art. The restaurant IJver opens a terrace; the NDSM Café covers the theater. By day, from 09:00 to 18:00, the doors remain open and entry is free, with respect for the private studios. Those arriving at night cross the IJ on the F4 ferry from Amsterdam Centraal: about fifteen minutes on the water and a five-minute walk to the blue doors. The venue does not pretend to be a classic nightclub; it is a shipyard that, when the workshop shuts down, can still turn into one of the vastest dance floors in Amsterdam.