Club 11 is an open space that invites celebration. A club, restaurant, bar and event space rolled into one, the space achieves maximum impact with a minimum of elements, evoking a sense of escape from the urban bustle below.
Occupying the top floor of a postal sorting office awaiting demolition, the 17-x-100-m space is usually large by Amsterdam standards, lending it a metropolitan quality. Bas van Tol matched that scale with a quartet of big elements — rotating walls, video screens, terracotta chandeliers and yellow bar — and 80 tree trunks.
Windows along the sides offer spectacular vistas over the city, but a look outside confirms just how much urban space is occupied by water, and how little by nature. Bas van Tol compensated for this lack with the large green wall in the middle of the space.
Bas van Tol split the space in two with this felt-covered soundproof wall in response to the client’s desire to host events without interrupting the restaurant. Half the space was rented by the Stedelijk Museum for lectures and presentations during the daytime. In the evening, two huge floor-to-ceiling wall sections rotated horizontally to connect the two halves again.
Giant chandeliers, assembled from terracotta-tinted plant pots and saucers, reinforce the earthy palette. A 24-metre-long bar forms a bright-yellow beacon at the centre. Planned to exist for two years only, Club 11 survived for twice that long. Thanks to its scale, the space exudes an international ambiance seldom encountered in Amsterdam.
Designed and constructed on a shoestring in just 3.5 months, the design had a fresh energy that lives on, even though the building has disappeared.