TILLATEC

The colored windows of the old LTS from 1967 give away the building before any brand. Behind that concrete facade in De Baarsjes, TILLATEC occupied from April 2024 the site that Amsterdam associated with De School. The team made it clear from the first day: it was not a relaunch. "We only share the address," said marketing director Passion Dzenga. New entrance, other routes, other people.

A technical school, not a successor

Samuel King and Lola Edo—the latter, promoter of the queer bar Pamela—took over the complex with a temporary contract. The first night opened on April 12, 2024. The project was presented as a club, café, restaurant, and community center, with a 24-hour license, converted classrooms, gardens, patios, and a kitchen. The musical bet did not look for the arena lineup: techno, house, and disco anchored in queer and racialized communities, with collectives like Herrensauna, Giegling, DKMNTL, Vault Sessions, or FIBER Festival. During the ADE, international heavyweights arrived, from Ben Klock to Philippa Pacho, without abandoning the TILLADECKS nights or the weekenders that extend until the next day.

The basement that the city already knew

The start was tough. King acknowledged that for months they lived in the shadow of De School and that filling a venue much larger than Pamela was not automatic. In 2025, the city council extended the lease. They opened two new rooms; one inherited the system of the legendary De School basement room, the Funktion-One that had marked that low dance floor. The house was reorganized as a multi-room venue, with two gardens for smoking and getting air, lockers, and a strict no photography policy: upon entering, phone cameras are covered.

Queer house with an expiration date

The house rules define a safer space: consent, respect, and immediate expulsion for racist, transphobic, or violent behavior. In April 2026, Meta suspended their Instagram, an episode that the club linked to queer censorship and that pushed them to their own channels and the web.

The building was never eternal: the West district of Amsterdam plans housing on the old school, with work scheduled for late 2027 or 2028. In June 2026, TILLATEC announced its closure. The Grand Finale is held from November 6 to 9, 2026: one last marathon in the same walls that, for two years, turned a technical school into a dance floor, dining room, and refuge.