Biertuin Centrum Bar

The third edition of De Biertuin takes place along the canals on the Prinsengracht, in the heart of Amsterdam. Studio Modijefsky has taken up the challenge, working on the existing layout to re-vamp the historical narrow building and epitomize it with the concept of the German biergarten.

Transforming the space meant taking it out of the dark: following a grid created by the openings on the internal walls, long lines of lightbulbs trace the entire length of the space and illuminate it with a soft light. A new layer of tile has been added to the walls, columns, and part of the ceiling to amplify the overall lighting and give a refined touch to raw materials, such as brick and concrete. Warm touches of recycled pinewood and oakwood from old train wagons cover the walls to create a lower plinth that unifies the space. New custom-made benches and tables blend with the existing ones and create a layout that reveals the leitmotifs of Biertuin: togetherness, linearity, and warmth.

The main bar is located in the middle of the area, embraced by three columns wrapped up in steel and beer displays. The existing structure on the front has been kept and implemented with backlit racks for beer bottles outlined by rounded copper profiles. The backbar has now a copper backdrop and light strips placed on the horizontal parts, creating a gridded pattern that enlighten the room and defines the bar as the heart of the place.

Right in front of the bar three small openings give a sneak peek of the beer garden, with its high tables crossing the windows and interconnecting the two rooms. A glass and metal framework covers the opposite wall and serves as a display for the special beer cans to be showcased on long lines of metal shelves. This space communicates sociality: long wooden tables and benches aligned towards the side walls and close to each other bring people together, just like the two other Biertuin’s.

The private room just across the beer garden is characterized by an intense use of copper inspired by the copper barrels where beer is brewed, in different shapes and sizes, whose texture is amplified by the reflection of the luminous spheres hanging from the ceiling. Its private bar is fulfilled with special beers lined up on a wall of wooden shelves lit up by warm lightbulbs. An addition to this existing element is the new glass rack right in front, designed following the Biertuin style: a balanced composition of glass, steel, and backlit shelves with red copper strokes, where the main characters are the special beer bottles. The layout of this room is flexible, with foldable and movable tables which can be set up to host tasting events, private parties, and any other kind of occasion.

Big menu boards hang on the walls throughout the whole space to illustrate the multiple types of beers. The Biertuin logo welcomes every visitor in the entrance, painted on the tiles in a bright warm white. Right above the front door is the big wooden backlit sign, which stands out from the wild nature climbing on the façade.

Outside, two wide customed wooden benches and tables and a green layer of bushes communicate the

Biertuin feeling of an urban garden and define the perimeter of the patio. Rough recycled materials, warm accents given by the light, captivating reflection on copper, steel, and tiles, together with ice cold beers and a pleasant and outgoing vibe combine and depict the new Bertuin Centrum.

Design: Studio Modijefsky
Design Team: Esther Stam, Natalia Nikolopoulou, Ivana Stella, Christel Willers
Photography: Maarten Willemstein