Opening office Jan Hendrikstraat

Close to home

In the twentieth century, the Nutsspaarbank increasingly developed from a charitable savings bank into a professional and business institution. This also accompanied growth. The bank kept getting bigger and therefore needed more space. Looking at the previous buildings, on the Dagelijkse Groenmarkt and on the Westeinde, it was not surprising that the bank was once again looking for a new location close to home. This was found around the corner from the Nutsspaarbank, on Jan Hendrikstraat.

Lucas & Niemeijer

In 1960, the municipality of The Hague decided to lease the land on Jan Hendrikstraat to the Nutsspaarbank for 70.000 guilders per year.

The bank hired architectural duo Jan Lucas and Henk Niemeijer to design the building. The two men were well known in the region. They designed the Rijswijk shopping center In de Bogaard, the Ministries of the Interior and Justice at Schedeldoekshaven in The Hague and the Babylon shopping center.

Shortly after Lucas and Niemeijer presented their design, construction began. A large office building was built on the plot of land that once served as a parking lot. The Aart van der Leeuwschool at Laan 5 also had to make way for its construction. The school moved to Ruysbroekstraat 1 in 1962.

Opening

The building was completed in 1963. Then-mayor Kolfschoten opened the office on December 16 of that year by depositing money in a savings account. But the Nutsspaarbank was not the only one located in the large building. The State Post, Telegraph and Telephone Company (PTT) established a district office here and the Buitenhof police station also moved into the building.

The building at the Riviervismarkt around the corner remained the official head office. From 1963 onwards, all public activities of the bank moved to Jan Hendrikstraat. Since then, only the management has walked through the stately lobby of the monumental building. From now on, all savers had to report to Jan Hendrikstraat.

Passage to the Nutstuin

Nowadays the Ibis Hotel occupies most of the building on Jan Hendrikstraat. Arts en Zorg Jan Hendrik practice is located on the ground floor. Yet there is still a nice connection with the building of the former Nutsspaarbank: via a passage in the building on Jan Hendrikstraat you can enter the Nutstuin and on to Het Nutshuis.