Het Zonnehuis: Theatre in Tuindorp Oostzaan, Amsterdam

★★★★★ 4.4

Het Zonnehuis is a concert hall and theatre in a 1932 community building on the Zonneplein in Tuindorp Oostzaan, Amsterdam Noord. You go for concerts, theatre and musicals in the big hall, and small dance afternoons and family shows in the small one, in an interior that is still in its original state. J.H. Mulder designed it for the city's Gemeentelijke Woningdienst as a meeting place for local workers, and for much of the 20th century people from the NDSM shipyard came here for their entertainment. The style is Amsterdam School: ladder windows, decorative brick, yellow frames and iron letters high on the facade. Four stone figures of a family stand at the back, by Willem IJzerdraat and Marinus Vreugde. The building was saved from demolition in 1993. Stadsherstel Amsterdam restored it in 2005 and rents it out as an event location while keeping it a meeting place for the neighbourhood. The big hall has a stage, orchestra pit and balcony, the Blauwe Zaal a small podium. The agenda includes the Paradiso Presenteert concert series, SoWhat family concerts, open-stage nights and film screenings. There are no regular opening hours: the building opens for events and tickets are sold per event. The route from the centre is metro 52 to Noorderpark, then bus 39 to Maanstraat, three minutes on foot from the door. By bike it is seven minutes from the NDSM ferry. The hall is wheelchair accessible and has an accessible toilet.