Magna Plaza

Theformer Amsterdam Main Post Office,now theMagna Plazashopping centre,is a monumental building located atNieuwezijds Voorburgwal182 inAmsterdam,Netherlands. It was built in 1895–1899 inneo-Gothicandneo-Renaissancestyle. The building has been arijksmonument(Dutch national monument) since 9 July 1974, and is part of theTop 100 Dutch heritage sites.

Magna Plaza, former Amsterdam Main Post Office building
The old Main Post Office Amsterdam, later Magna Plaza, viewed from the South, 2016.
General information
Address	Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal 182, 1012 SJ Amsterdam. Corner Raadhuisstraat.
Year(s) built	1895-1899
Technical details
Floor area	5,589 m² basement, ground floor, 1st and 2nd floor. The top floor 1,420 m² office space
Design and construction
Architect(s)	Cornelis Hendrik Peters (1847-1932)

Entrance and central tower, Magna Plaza, Amsterdam, 2018.

Construction

The Amsterdam Post Office was built in the period 1895–1899, designed byCornelis Peters(Cornelis Hendrik Peters). It replaced the Royal Post Office of 1854, which was designed byFrederik Willem Conrad (1800-1870)andCornelis Outshoorn,and served as a gallery shortly before being taken down in 1897.

Exterior

The exterior is heavily decorated with polychromatic brick with details indressed stone,including framing for all windows and doors. Across the roof edges are a large number ofdormers,each with their owncrow-stepped gable.Due to the pear shaped crowns on top of the towers the building is colloquially named ‘Perenburg’ (English:pearburg).

Interior

The building's interior consists of a central hall with galleries on two upper floors, surrounded byarcadesand crowned by a sunroof. The public function of the building was limited to the ground floor, while the rest of the building was only accessible to personnel of thePTT,then the national post, telegraph and telephone agency. In 1987, the PTT announced that it intended to vacate the building and it was sold the next year for 7.5 millionguilders(about 3.2 million euro) to Larmag, aSwedishreal estate developer,who intended to repurpose the building as a luxury shopping centre. Maintaining and optimally using the monumental building was a main criterion. The construction started in February 1991. The exterior work was mostly limited to cleaning, repair and restoration of the facades. The interior of the building was completely rebuilt, maintaining the carrying structures and decorative elements.

Renovation and shopping mall

Unexpected technical problems delayed the work; the building's foundation had to be replaced, and several of the beams were found to be hollow. The floors of the new mall were connected by escalators and elevators. The existing stairways were maintained, two as emergency stairways, and one as a public stairway. Office spaces were created in the attic. The renovation was led by H.J.M. (Hans) Ruijssenaars. The Magna Plaza shopping centre, named after Larmag's CEO Lars-Erik Magnusson, was finally opened to the public on August 17, 1992.

In 2016, DPM Group sold Magna Plaza to institutional investors from Europe and Israel with a rumoured purchase price of around 63.5 million euro.

The gross leasable retail area is 5,589 square metres (60,160 sq ft) and there is additionally 1,420 square metres (15,300 sq ft) of office space.

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  The great hall of Magna Plaza, around 2007.
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  Decorations during the coronation ofKing Willem-Alexander,2013.
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  Interior view of Magna Plaza to the top with high ceiling and arcs, 2014.

Historical images

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  Cornelis Outshoorn (1812-1875) and Frederik Willem Conrad (1800-1870): Architect's drawing from 1854 of the older Royal Post Office at Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal 192, which was taken down in 1897.
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  Cornelis Hendrik Peters (1847-1932): Architect's drawing of the Main Post Office as seen from the Nieuwezijds Voorburgwal, 13 July 1895.
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  Cornelis Hendrik Peters (1847-1932): Architect's drawing of the side of the Main Post Office as seen from the Raadhuisstraat, 13 July 1895.
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  Amsterdam Main Post Office between 1890 and 1905.Photochromprint (color photo lithograph).