COMING UP: “Who Cares?” at Museum Amsterdam Noord

Museum Amsterdam Noord is proudly housed in the former bathhouse of the Vogelbuurt, a place that once served as a centre for self-care and preventive care. How was care organised in other parts of Noord? How do we take care of one another today, and what influence do physical symbols of care have on how we perceive care?

From Saturday 18 April, the new exhibition “Who Cares?!” will be on view. The project shows how care flows through the veins of the district and its residents, from past to present. Care is made visible and tangible: no longer something that happens behind the scenes, but an integral part of everyday life that we shape together.

Do you have a story, object, poster, or image related to care in Amsterdam Noord? Join our Voorpret Praatje (Pre-Exhibition Talk) on Monday 2 March from 16:00–18:00 at the museum and share it with fellow neighbourhood residents. Please register in advance via lorna@museumamsterdamnoord.nl.

Would you like to discover more stories and ideas from the neighbourhood already? The current exhibition and our design research on the future of the community centre can be visited until Sunday 5 April during regular opening hours.

Much of our work explores how cultural and social value can be (re)embedded in the built environment. This includes curating an upcoming exhibition and public debate on systems of care and health in Amsterdam Noord (Museum Amsterdam Noord, April), as well as advising on renovation and transformation projects that raise broader questions about housing, care, and community resilience.

One such case is a 1960s senior housing block on the Beethovenstraat in Amsterdam Zuid. We were asked to facilitate a third renovation within the building: the transformation of a former concierge apartment into a sellable dwelling to support future maintenance costs for the VvE. While financially logical, this proposal raised a more strategic question: what spatial and social infrastructure is lost when care-related spaces are monetised, rather than reimagined?

🎉 Opening: Friday, 3 October at 18:00
Step into “Between Tradition and Transformation” – an exhibition from Studio Locus that traces the past, present, and future of Amsterdam Noord’s community centres. From historic social experiments to vibrant hubs of creativity, connection, and local ownership, discover how these spaces shape neighbourhood life.

🌟 Get hands-on with the interactive collective artwork “Tiles of Noord”, made from clay from twenty different neighbourhoods in Amsterdam Noord —a tangible architectural symbol of community, creativity, and shared stories.

📅 The exhibition runs from Saturday, 4 October 2025 to 5 April 2026. Stay tuned for an exciting line-up of public activities and events during the exhibition. Come, discover, create, and connect!

It’s been a busy start to the year. And a busy first two years of Studio Locus. We are having so much fun and are so grateful to all our fabulous clients and for the challenging assignments. Thoroughly looking forward to sharing some completed project photos at the end of 2025!

Speaker @
Symposium “Community Hubs of the Future”
Pollokshaws Community Hub, Glasgow

What if the key to resilient, just cities isn’t large-scale innovation — but small, local investments that ripple outward, addressing multiple urban challenges at once?

From concept to completion, we guide renovation projects every step of the way—starting with spatial design and permits, through engineering, working drawings, and even bespoke furniture design.
By offering a full-service approach, we ensure seamless transitions, allowing for necessary adjustments, extra detailing, and unexpected interventions without hassle. The result? A high-performing construction with meticulous detailing—because true sustainability is built on quality. 🌿🏗️

It’s a cold winter morning and work has begun on site in Vinkeveen. The house is wrapped in scaffolding. The coming weeks it will be stripped to its bare bones. The roof will be removed, inner walls removed construction adjusted and improved for its modern use.

Studio Locus has moved to Obiplein in the East of Amsterdam. Starting a new chapter, we’ll share a multidisciplinary space with landscape architects Damen Chataignier, architect Anna Zan, Landscape Choreographies and Equivalent Architects. Together we also share the first floor of this monumental former elementary school building with Keizer Koopmans and Studio Spacious.

Een stad in verandering: Vrouwen van Nieuw-West “Samenhorigheid”

Join us friday the 18th of October for an event together with one of the founding mothers of the Matrix Feminist Architectural Co-operative (1980–1996): Fran Bradshaw. We will talk with Fran about the Matrix history of advancing social justice and abolishing hierarchies in the workplace, on the building site and in the client meeting. The talk will be the kick-off of our serie of four workshops "A City in Change: Women of Nieuw West". Lorna Gibson from Studio Locus shall present the studios research on civic centres in Amsterdam. And discuss themes of solidarity, collectivity and community.

This project aspires to apply the strategies and tactics of the Matrix to present day Amsterdam Nieuw-West. "City in Change: Women of Nieuw West" uses heritage as an inspiration to construct and present a reinterpretation and reformulation of local history.

On Thursday, October 10, the TU Delft is organizing a kick-off event for Transitional Identities at community center Het Zwanenmeer in Amsterdam Noord. Lorna Gibson from Studio Locus shall be talking alongside Thijs van Spaandonk from the Cloud Collection, the district chairperson Esther Lagendijk, and TU Delft tutors and architects, Christopher de Vries and Lindwine Spoormans.

We zijn verheugd om samen te werken met het fantastische team van de Kazerne in Reigersbos en de gemeente Amsterdam aan een Manifest en ontwerp spelregels voor een nieuw en veerkrachtig Cultureel Gemeenschapscentrum in de zuidoostelijke buitenwijk van Amsterdam.

The “Ons Huis: de Toekomst van het Buurthuis” exhibition and workshop dates have been released

The past year, we have delved into the history and development of "community centers" in Amsterdam, particularly in Amsterdam Noord. We’ve spoken with users, managers, and others about what a "community center" is and what it could become in the future.

Now, we are beginning to design the exhibition where we will share and further discuss these findings. For example, we’re exploring the differences between a community center, neighborhood room, neighborhood house, creative hub, social hub, community building, and mini-economy.

“de toekomst van het buurthuis formulier”. Tell us about your buurthuis or buurthuis wishes here.

Are you interested? Send us your portfolio and cv, we’re always looking for talented new people to strengthen our team.