The origins of Het Nutshuis and the renovation of the bank building

The end of the Nutsspaarbank in 1992 did not mean the end of a bank in Het Nutshuis. Until 2003, VSB Bank was located here. When this bank left, the owner of the building, Fonds 1818, had to make a decision about the purpose of the building.

The board of Fonds 1818 already decided in 1998 not to sell Het Nutshuis. After all, this building was where the roots of the fund lay: the Nutsspaarbank. The building should have a function that corresponded with the objectives of the fund. But how do you shape something like this? After a number of discussions, it was decided to renovate the building and rent it to organizations with social objectives. To this day, this is one of the functions of Het Nutshuis.

The renovation was started in 2001 on behalf of Fonds 1818. The architectural firm Braaksma en Roos drew up a plan for the renovation and use of Het Nutshuis.

The idea behind the renovation

Initially, it was never the intention to return the building to the situation in 1921. It was especially important that the restored building would meet the usage standards of the 21st century. However, during the renovation, all original details emerged under suspended ceilings and behind false walls. The objective of the renovation slowly changed, partly because the beauty of the building became visible.

Many details have been fully or partially restored: the yellow and green tiles that decorate the walls on the ground floor, the pillars in the Bankhal and the connection points for the vacuum cleaner system (the system itself has disappeared). But some details were destroyed because it would be very expensive to restore them or because there was almost nothing left, for example the tiled floor in the Bankhal and the stained glass ceiling.

The safes

The Nutsspaarbank was the bank in The Hague with the most public safes. In order to renovate the basement, all safe deposit boxes had to be emptied by the tenants, which numbered no fewer than ten thousand. Not all tenants showed up, which resulted in lockers being drilled open. Among the strangest finds were a bottle of eau de cologne and propaganda for the far-right politician Joop Glimmerveen.

In 2001, the building had four safes: three from the 1970s (the mortgage safe, the securities safe and the suitcase safe) and one from 1921 (the safe deposit box safe). The three newer vaults were demolished to make room for the café and rear entrance. Demolishing the safes around the central vault took three months. Additional structures were regularly needed to support the other parts of the building. Removing the safe literally left a crater in the building. The vault doors alone weighed 6.5 tons.

The central vault from 1921 has been preserved with a number of minor adjustments and now functions as a film and meeting room. There is not a cent left in the cellar, but the old public lockers can still be admired. 

Another beautiful remnant in the basement is a vault escape door that provided access to the cash cart gate at the rear of the building. If an attempt were made to rob the bank through that gate, the cashiers could escape without having to open the large vault door. This had to be done on all fours.

The Bankhal

The monumentality of the entrance hall of Het Nutshuis, the Bankhal, only became visible when the suspended ceiling was removed and the original ceiling turned out to be another 2.2 meters higher, supported by pillars. After this revelation, the plan quickly arose to restore this hall to its full glory.

From a brochure at the time of the opening of the Nutsspaarbank:
Upon entering, the public enters a spacious hall with a glass roof, which provides good light. (…) There are counters for service on the left in the hall. On the right is a desk behind which the accountant can supervise the staff. (…) Along the Jan Hendrikstraat side is the office space with a counting machine, which is equipped with double glazing due to the noisy work.

Until 1963, there were counters in the hall and the space was used to receive bank customers. When this function was moved to the adjacent building in Jan Hendrikstraat (the current Ibis hotel), the stained glass hood (matching the stained glass above the front door, which still exists) above the hall was removed and replaced by a flat roof with suspended ceilings. In 2003, when the VSB bank left, the Bankhal was given a glass ceiling again.

Bring the tower back

The original Nutsspaarbank had a tower on the Jan Hendrikstraat side. On the first and second floors of the tower, a spacious space was reserved for the resident caretaker and his family. The permanent residence was apparently necessary to ensure safety. 

In 1963 the tower was demolished to connect the old Nutsspaarbank with the new office on Jan Hendrikstraat. Braaksma and Roos' plan suggests rebuilding the tower, to give the building the original shape in the street. The final word was up to the commissioners, but with a cost of approximately 1.2 million guilders, this was not an easy decision. Nevertheless, the tower was built and was rebuilt in lime, sandstone and brick.

Het Nutshuis for local art and society

After the renovation, the Nutsspaarbank's head office became Het Nutshuis in 2006. Local art and society were the subject of debates, lectures, exhibitions, workshops, films and music. Students from the Royal Academy of Art (Koninklijke Academie voor de Beeldende Kunst) and young artists met the Hague public in Het Nutshuis. Social views were opposed to each other in the debates. In this way the spirit of 't Nut was translated into the present day.

View an old brochure here about Het Nutshuis (in Dutch).

Special edition Krant 1818 from 2006

Between 2001 and 2008, Fonds 1818 published a newspaper called Krant 1818. This initially appeared ten times a year and later four times a year. This special edition of Krant 1818 (in Dutch) contains extensive information about the renovation of the savings bank building and the opening of Het Nutshuis in 2006.