Het Rooklokaal

De School, one of Amsterdam’s premier nightlife venues, needed a new concept for its smoking room before an April 2020 ban would shut down the last remaining indoor smoking spaces in the city.

Design Context

Before COVID-19, De School represented the cutting edge of Amsterdams nightlife. Housed in a former technical school, the venue was regarded as one of the world’s most immersive nightclubs and regularly brought leading DJs, performers, and visual artists together under one roof. The venue was also committed to creative use of its sprawling site, frequently opening and closing spaces, building secret rooms, and showcasing installations that, altogether, succeeded in disorienting even the most committed regulars.

The smoking room provided a crucial service at De School, even for nonsmokers. By offering a social space that was neither bar nor dancefloor, the room invited ravers to make new friends, regather their senses, or simply do nothing in an environment that demanded no more than hanging out. But with a new smoking ban on the horizon, the room needed a revamp that would preserve its social functions while still giving people a reason to pass through its doors.

Concept

Het Rooklokaal is a reconfigurable space that promises surprise, fosters community, and supports artistic expression. Named “The Smoking Room” after De School’s practice of naming spaces in honor of their former uses, the space is a microcosm of the larger venue and echoes many of its trademark qualities:

• A place for getting lost and and finding yourself again
• An escapist retreat… and a stage for being seen for who you are
• A gallery where you can discover art and become a part of it
• A room for finding strange new doors and passing through them

Execution

Six platforms with unique configurations of walls and benches function as both stand-alone architectural features and modular elements. Up to twelve of these platforms can comfortably fit in the room and they can be moved and recombined in dozens of permutations to transform the space.

Gridded perforations throughout reference De School’s branding and identity while facilitating playful voyeurism and exhibitionism (always with consent, of course). The perforations also support venue safety so that the club’s awareness team and security staff can check on even the most secluded spaces afforded by the platforms.

Meanwhile, flat surfaces and the numerous enclosures created by the structures also act as potential canvases for projection, painting, performance, and installation art.

Coda

Het Rooklokaal was pitched and accepted in late February of 2020. Just three weeks later, COVID-19 forced the venue’s doors closed, and in July 2020, the owners announced De School’s permanent closure.

Client

Ernst Mertens, Creative Director & Co-Proprietor, De School

Co-Designer

Travis Wood, Principal Architect, Studio TRW