Scheepvaarthuis
The Scheepvaarthuis, or Shipping House, was built from 1913 to 1916 as the shared headquarters of six Amsterdam shipping companies. It is regarded as the first complete building of the Amsterdam School, and is now a hotel.
Ten years after Berlage stripped the ornament off the stock exchange, three young architects put all of it back, and then some.
Six shipping companies decided to share one office. Between them they ran the liners to the Dutch East Indies, to Africa and to the Americas, and they wanted a building that said so. In 1912 the commission went to Johan van der Mey, who brought in two colleagues from the same office, Michel de Klerk and Piet Kramer. None of them was older than thirty-five.
What they built is the starting point of the Amsterdam School. Underneath there is a modern concrete frame. On top of it they laid brick as if it were fabric, folding it round corners and rippling it across the walls, and then covered it in carving. Look closely and the whole building is about the sea: sea gods, ships, the oceans, and the heads of Dutch navigators set into the stone. The ironwork twists like rope and seaweed.
The site was chosen with care. This is the quay from which, in 1595, the first Dutch fleet left for the East Indies, the voyage that began the trade these companies lived on.
The style spread from here into whole neighbourhoods of workers’ housing across Amsterdam. The shipping companies are long gone, and since 2007 the building has been a hotel.
What to look for
The corner entrance
The door is on the sharp corner, under a roof that rises like the prow of a ship, with carved figures on either side.
The ironwork
Follow the railings along the street. They are not a repeated pattern: they were forged as waves, rope and sea creatures.
The brick
Notice how often the bricks are laid upright, at angles or in curves. In the Amsterdam School the bricklayer’s work was the decoration.
Key facts
- Built
- 1913–1916, extended 1926–1928
- Architects
- Johan van der Mey, Michel de Klerk, Piet Kramer
- Style
- Amsterdam School
- Now
- Hotel
- Address
- Prins Hendrikkade 108, Amsterdam Directions
Close by
The bigger picture
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The dates, names and figures on this page were checked against published references. These are the records for this place. The story is Lookstory’s own telling of them. Last updated October 2026.