The much-needed rebuilding of Amsterdam’s decaying quay walls and bridges reveals the complexities of renewing heritage infrastructure in a UNESCO World Heritage city. Climate pressures such as sea-level rise, salinization and extreme weather further complicate this renewal. A KIEM grant entitled Amsterdam Time Travel awarded in 2021 provided the foundation for history and heritage-based analysis of bridges and quay walls. This work supports the systematic understanding and inventorying of historical datasets and included a case study of Amsterdam’s underground (Kremer, Scheffers, & Geven, 2023). These insights have informed the Heritage Work Package of the Multi-Functional Quay Walls (MFQW) project, funded by the National Growth Fund of RVO. The MFQW project aims to provide innovative designs for the renewal and renovation of quay walls (AMS 2025), taking into account the UNESCO World Heritage status.
The adequate maintenance of Amsterdam’s quay walls is becoming increasingly urgent: declining load-bearing capacity, growing vehicle weights and climate pressures threaten both the city’s livability and World Heritage integrity. In line with the goals of the Municipality of Amsterdam to promote circular processes (AMS 2022; Municipality of Amsterdam 2024), we argue that circular building practices require knowledge and data of historical materials, technologies, and practices, as well as the continuous documentation of interventions. We therefore argue for the circular reuse of historical data in planning for the future. However, while construction and data technologies improve, historical information is often incomplete or fragmented.
To address these challenges, the MFQW project develops modular design solutions based on a generalized canalscape, enabling optimized interventions. These designs now need to be adapted to specific sites and contextualized within Amsterdam’s urban fabric and historical context. The first phase focuses on Marnixkade, which serves as a living lab to test the proposed interventions. Our work package focuses on the canal where Marnixkade is located, the Singelgracht, as the initial case study. Working within this site has highlighted key transformations over time and challenges integrating the gained heritage knowledge with sustainable, future-oriented design.
Our team leads the Heritage Work Package within the MFQW project. Through the Singelgracht case study, we have identified critical obstacles: a lack of shared language around heritage, ambiguous methods for assessing values and fragmented, difficult-to-access historical data. Addressing these gaps is essential to integrate historical knowledge, material practices and canal-specific narratives into sustainable, climate-adaptive design. By doing so, the project contributes to shaping Amsterdam’s future heritage, ensuring resilience, circularity and cultural continuity.
