Prinses Irenestraat 19 in 1962, Photo: Jac ten Broek.
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Premsela has its offices in the former St-Nicolaas monastery in southern Amsterdam. We share the building with the offices of Platform 21 and Virtueel Museum Zuidas, which also houses artists-in-residence there. The former St-Nicolaas chapel next door serves as Platform 21’s exhibition space. An adjacent restaurant, As, has opened 21 April.
Architect Lau Peters and his firm designed the round, white modernist chapel and complementary brick seminary in 1959. Priests lived and trained there until 1998. After that, the seminary was briefly home to the Sandberg Institute, which mounted exhibitions in the chapel.
Illustrator Cyprian Koscielniak drew the signposts on the walls.
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In 2005, Opera Ontwerpers renovated the interiors of both buildings, owned by ING Real Estate. The designers preserved the structures’ architectural integrity while making the seminary’s interior more open and multifunctional. Cyprian Koscielniak added playful illustrations to its walls to show visitors the way.
In 2011, Premsela will move to a purpose-built home on a nearby site. We are drawing up a concept and list of requirements for the building with ING Real Estate. An architect will be chosen later this year.
Premsela’s neighbourhood, the Beatrixkwartier, lies between the Beatrixpark and the A10 ring road. It is part of the Zuidas development zone.
