Benthem Crouwel Architekten

Benthem Crouwel Architekten is a Dutch architectural firm founded in 1979 by Jan Benthem and Mels Crouwel. Together with partners Joost Vos and Marten Wassmann, they direct offices in Amsterdam and Düsseldorf.

History 
In the first years mostly home renovations were done and the office participated in several contests. The first construction project was a house in Scheveningen in 1982. A key project in the early period was the home of Jan Benthem himself, De Fantasie in Almere (1982-1984). The house shows the pragmatic approach combined with the spatial and technical innovation that is typical for the office.  At that time they also got a series of assignments for customs emplacements on the border of The Netherlands with Belgium and Germany. 

After a couple of small assignments at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport, such as a bicycle parking, Benthem Crouwel became the master architect Schiphol in 1986, in cooperation with NACO (Netherlands Airport Consultants). Over the years many additions were made to the airport, such as Terminal West (1993), Schiphol Plaza (1995), control tower (2003), departures (2004), World Trade Center (1996 and 2003) and Lounges 1, 2 and 3 (2002 and 2010). Since 1989 Benthem Crouwel is the supervisory architect of the international exhibition and conference centre of The Netherlands, Amsterdam RAI. The most recent addition to the complex is RAI Elicium (2009).

Benthem Crouwel has designed museums, public buildings and pop venues. Some examples are the Anne Frank House (1999)and the FOAM photo museum (2002) in Amsterdam, De Pont museum for contemporary art, Tilburg (1993), restoration and expansion of Las Palmas, Rotterdam (2008), the Malietower, The Hague (1996), pop venues Metropool, Hengelo (2009), P60, Amstelveen (2001), 013, Tilburg (1998). and Ziggo Dome, Amsterdam (2012). Current projects are among others the Kulturbau Koblenz  and the Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam. 

The office is also involved in infrastructural projects. Other than bridges, such as Muiderbrug, A1 Amsterdam – Rijnkanaal (2010) and the High Speed Train longest bridge at Hollandsch Diep (2006), current projects are the North/South Line (Amsterdam Metro) and the renewal of all major Dutch transportation hubs; Amsterdam Central station, Utrecht Central station, Rotterdam Central station and The Hague Central station.

Mels Crouwel was Chief Government Architect from 2004 till 2008.

Selection of completed projects 
 1984 House Benthem, Almere, NL
 1993 Museum De Pont, Tilburg, NL
 1993 Terminal West, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, NL
 1995 Schiphol Plaza, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, NL
 1995 Station Schiphol, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, NL
 1996 Provincial Hall, Groningen, NL
 1996 Biological Laboratorium University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, NL
 1996 Malietower, Den Haag, NL
 1996 World Trade Center, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, NL
 1997 National Institute for War Documentation (NIOD), Amsterdam, NL
 1998 Station building, Lelystad Airport, NL
 1998 Expansion Ahoy Rotterdam, NL
 1998 Pop venue 013, Tilburg, NL
 1999 Anne Frank House, Amsterdam, NL
 1999 Zeeuws Archive, Middelburg, NL
 2000 Photography museum House Marseille, Amsterdam, NL
 2001 Villa ArenA, Amsterdam, NL
 2001 Culturestrip, Amstelveen, NL
 2002 Photo museum FOAM, Amsterdam, NL
 2002 Rijksmuseum Amsterdam Schiphol, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, NL
 2002 GEM, Museum of Contemporary Art, Den Haag, NL
 2003 Controle tower, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, NL
 2004 Plaza Arena, Amsterdam, NL
 2004 Gerrit Rietveld Academie, Amsterdam, NL
 2006 Bridge High Speed Train, Hollandsch Diep, NL
 2008 Penthouse Las Palmas, Rotterdam, NL
 2009 Etrium, Köln, D
 2009 Elicium, Amsterdam RAI, NL
 2009 Deutsches Bergbau-Museum, Bochum, D
 2009 Muiderbridge, Amsterdam-Rijnkanaal, NL
 2009 Metropool, Hengelo, NL
 2010 Lounge 3, Amsterdam Airport Schiphol
 2010 Port City 2 and 3, Rotterdam, NL
 2010 ACTA, Academisch Centrum voor Tandheelkunde Amsterdam, NL
 2011 Crescendo, Venlo, NL
 2012 Ziggo Dome, Amsterdam, NL
 2012 Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands
 2015 Expansion Museum De Pont, NL

Selection of current projects 
 AM3 Datacenter, Amsterdam, NL
 Kulturbau and Mall, Koblenz, D
 A2 hotel, Amsterdam, NL
 Ponte Palazzo, ’s-Hertogenbosch, NL
 Grotius building, Radboud University Nijmegen, NL
 Scheldeplein building, Amsterdam RAI, NL
 Central Station Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Den Haag and Utrecht, NL
 North/South Line, Amsterdam, NL

Awards 
 1989 Berliner Kunstpreis in the category architecture
 1996 Wibautprijs from the City of Amsterdam for the urban development at Schiphol
 1999 BNA Kubus for the contribution to the infrastructural architecture in The Netherlands 
 2009 Deutsche Gütesiegel in gold for sustainable building for office building; the Etrium 
 2012 AIT Award in the category Health + Care, interior for ACTA, Academic Centre for Dentistry Amsterdam
 2012 Hedy d'Ancona Prijs for ACTA, Academic Centre for Dentistry Amsterdam

References

Further reading
 Benthem Crouwel: monografie. 010 Uitgeverij, 1992, .
 Hans van Dijk, Maarten Kloos: Benthem Crouwel: 1980-2000. 010 Uitgeverij, 1999, .
 Edwin Zwakman: Zwakman Benthem Crouwel. 010 Uitgeverij, 2009, .
 Kirsten Schipper, Christian Bunyan: Benthem Crouwel: 'BC AD' Benthem Crouwel 1979-2009, English Edition. 010 Uitgeverij, 2009, .
 Kirsten Schipper, Christian Bunyan: Benthem Crouwel: 'BC AD' Benthem Crouwel 1979-2009. 010 Uitgeverij, 2009, .

External links

 
 

Category:Architecture firms of the Netherlands