Centrale Oost

English translation

The text above is the record as published by the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed, in Dutch. The English below is a machine translation made by TreeAlive, not by the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed; it has not been checked by a person. Where the two differ, the original is the record. Report a translation error: privacy@treealive.com

Description

Introduction

The MACHINE BUILDING of the first ELECTRICITY CENTRAL STATION of the Gemeente Electritriciteitswerken service, taken into use in 1903 as Central Station and later as Centrale Oost, designed by Public Works as functional brick architecture in a style influenced by Eclecticism. In 1900, the municipal council, on the basis of a report by A.W. Ressing, had decided to proceed with the establishment of this municipal central station. An important argument for Amsterdam to set up a municipal electricity company was that it wanted to electrify the tram and the cranes of the harbour operations, and for precisely those applications direct current is more suitable than alternating current. Therefore, the central station at the Hoogte Kadijk not only generated three-phase current for small consumers and businesses, but also direct current for the tram and the harbour. For the location at the Hoogte Kadijk, part of the old Entrepotdok was demolished. Originally, the central station consisted of three adjoining and elongated building sections: a machine building at the Hoogte Kadijk; a boiler house with two chimneys and a building for coal storage and unloading facility at the water of the Entrepotdok, this in connection with the supply of coal. For the fitting out of the machine building, the Berlin firm Allgemeine Elektrizitäts Gesellschaft (AEG) was engaged. For the generation of electricity, initially five reciprocating steam engines were used, each with a capacity of 1000 hp (720 kW). These were manufactured by Gebr. Stork & Co in Hengelo. The Pied Boeuf boilers with a steam output of 3750 kg/hour and a steam pressure of 10 kg/cm² came from the firm Stork and the Nederlandse Fabriek van Werktuigen en Spoorwegmaterieel in Amsterdam. The machinery would be continuously modernised and replaced over time. In 1908 the central station was extended in the lengthwise direction to the west in the same style and thereby almost doubled in floor area. In 1911 the generation of direct current was discontinued and converted from three-phase current to direct current instead. In the 1930s and 1940s, the central station gradually lost importance for the generation of electricity. Until 1931 the central station was fully in use for power generation. It was gradually dismantled. In 1946, the majority of the machines, boilers and chimneys were removed. In 1955 all the western facades of the boiler house and the coal storage were demolished; in the 1990s these buildings were subsequently completely demolished. The small outbuildings and a recent high extension against the western facade on the transition from machine building to boiler house were also demolished. The southern wall with arches and buttresses of the coal storage yard has been preserved and will be incorporated into new construction. In the interior of the machine building, various original components are still present. Machines in the old part of the machine building still supply approximately 150 kV to the city of Amsterdam.

Description

The machine building was created - albeit in two phases - on an elongated rectangular ground plan, originally has three storeys (later partly raised) and is entirely sub-basement and has a flat roof in combination with an elongated gabled roof. The facades are laid in brown brick in alternating headers and stretchers. Natural stone has been used at corner and bond stones of the arches, at water tanks and spouts, lower sills, speckled stones and as coping at the gable termination. To the east is the raised building section with the former offices and above the basement still three original storeys, later raised with two more. The front facade is seven bays wide. The central bay terminates in a small gable top with spout and has pilasters and accents in corbelled brickwork in (compressed) arch forms. A simple stoop leads to the entrance with double wooden door with lights and wrought iron fittings. The windows of the principal storey have a corbelled central post and slight arches in likewise spandrel. The remaining windows are likewise placed beneath arches. Straight gable termination with corbelled accents and a compressed and corbelled arch frieze. On the corner with the Hoogte Kadijk a small natural stone lintel. The actual production space of the machine building has an elongated northern side facade on the Hoogte Kadijk. This is articulated strongly horizontally with window series and vertically with pilasters and eighteen bays (originally nine bays) wide and has beneath the plinth moulding coupled and grilled window openings to the basement. The large lower windows have a segmental arch, a sharply chamfered lower sill, three corbelled central posts and iron tracery with multi-light glazing. The side facade has two entrances with double doors with ladder lights and arched and articulated fanlight. The upper windows between the pilasters consist of always three coupled windows in Romanesque style. Straight gable termination with corbelled and corbelled frieze with likewise consoles and inserted pieces. The southern side facade consists largely of the former partition wall with the boiler building, but has the high-set window series in Romanesque style in view. The western building has five storeys above the basement. It forms the closure of the extension from 1908 and provided space for offices and ancillary functions. The entrance to this newer part of the machine building is located in the front facade. Principal storey on front and side facade (Hoogte Kadijk) with respectively nine and two bays and with broad multi-light windows beneath slight arch. On the first and second storey of the front facade ten fifteen-light windows with sash windows. On the side facade the windows on the second storey form a continuation of the window series in Romanesque style. The third and fourth storeys are a later addition and have simple and partly recently replaced windows. On the front facade further some natural stone decorations and two hoisting beams with ornamental wrought iron bracing above natural stone fixed rollers. In the interior various original components and constructions have been preserved. The roof with the wooden roof sheathing and the iron lattice trusses rest partly on lattice girders and likewise columns. After the extension of 1908 there was a large gate-like connection between the two halls of the machine building; this gate is now bricked up. The two travelling cranes with a lifting capacity of 25 tons are possibly from the construction time of the extension. The former factory floor has tiled and concrete sections. The walls have pilasters and spandrels. A fine curved staircase with copper handrail leads to a room from which supervision of the hall could be maintained; the staircase has recently been moved several metres. The basement has in various places still the original barrel vaults and large cooling tanks beneath the factory floor; these cooling tanks were in open connection with the water of the canal.

Valuation

Former machine building (1901-1903 and 1908) of the Centrale Oost of general importance on account of its architectural-historical and typological value. Of significance for the history of public utilities and for the history of technology. Although the central station has otherwise almost completely disappeared, the machine building forms a reasonably well-preserved testimony of the earliest period of municipal electricity supply in Amsterdam.