On July 22, the long awaited North-South metro line in Amsterdam will finally be open for business. Benthem Crouwel Architects are responsible for the design of the metro line, which has been in the works for 22 years.

The North-South metro line is finished

The building of the metro line was a tough task, as Amsterdam is built on wooden stilts and the ground is soggy. The subsidence of properties around the metro line area was certainly one of the project’s setbacks. Using a technique developed in the 1990s however, it became possible to create tunnels underground without affecting the city too greatly.

In January of this year, the construction of the metro line was completed and a record of 40.000 people went to check out the new stations, even thought the metro was not running, during the open day that month. In the time in-between the finishing of the construction and the opening of the metro line, the service has been tested extensively, although some teething problems are sure to show up in the first few months.

From north to south Amsterdam in 15 minutes

With the opening of the North-South line, a.k.a. line 52, passengers can now travel from the north of the city to the south in just 15 minutes. Travellers will pass through seven stunning new metro stations designed by Benthem Crouwel Architects. They will then reach the final station, which is Zuid.

The stations on the metro line are:

• Noord
• Noorderpark
• Amsterdam Central Station
• Rokin
• Vijzelgracht
• De Pijp
• Europaplein
• Zuid

Each station features a specially commissioned piece of artwork, which takes inspiration from the theme “From the neighbourhood to the world”. Artworks have been created by both national and international artists. At station Rokin, you can also find a selection of the 700.000 archaeological objects, found during construction, on display.

Metro line features

In addition to the artworks adorning the stations, the metro line also has some other interesting features. Whilst the design of each station is informed by the amount of space the Amsterdam city plan, they are also all designed around the concept of having the shortest possible connection between the underground platform and street level. Within this concept, clear underground streets were designed, instead of confusing mazes of walkways.

Lighting in the stations is also used to intuitively guide passengers to the exit. On the platform, warm lighting is used which gets brighter as you journey towards the exit. The brighter lighting at the exit is almost as bright as daylight, but not quite. Walking from the station’s platform to the exit, thus feels like you are walking towards the daylight.

Photo source: Benthem Crouwel Architects