Appendix I Introduction to the NHM file

Part of the file on the NHM building on the Blaak in Rotterdam was acquired
acquired along a separate route. The dossier was originally
described in a separate placement list, provided with its own
introduction. After the file was included in the Elffers archive, and
described in this inventory, the placement list was dropped. The
introduction to the expired placement list can be found in this appendix.
NETHERLANDSCHE HANDEL-MAATSCHAPPIJ (ABN-AMRO BANK) ON BLAAK 34, ROTTERDAM
ARCHITECTS: CORNS. ELFFERS (1898-1987) AND A.A. VAN NIEUWENHUYZEN (1883-1959)
Together with the Amsterdamsche Bank-Incasso Bank and the Twentsche Bank
Between 1945 and 1947 the branch of the Nederlandsche Handel-
Maatschappij N.V. (NHM) on the Blaak 34 in Rotterdam . Banks could
Because of their financial position, banks could start any
rebuilding plans immediately after the war.
The unity that the three bank buildings on the Blaak form is striking and
largely the result of the strict guidelines that W.G. Witteveen and
F.A. Eschauzier established to achieve their image of the newly rebuilt city.
achieve. Witteveen was designer of the then current
reconstruction plan and Eschauzier acted as supervisor over the Blaak. The
benches now all three carry the status of municipal monument.
Due to the bombing of May 1940, the pre-war branch of the
NHM at 72 Zuidblaak, then called Zuidblaak, had been turned into a ruin. This branch
from 1917 had been realized to the design of the architect J. Verheul
(1860-1948) in collaboration with the architects Van der Heijden and Van
Nieuwenhuizen. Only the safe-deposit of this bank remained intact, and the
bank was adapted for use with some emergency measures. For new construction
however, the management of the NHM proceeded resolutely. Already in September
permission was obtained to build a bank on the same site and two
months later lay at Corns. Elffers and A.A. van Nieuwenhuyzen for a design.
commission to realize a design. In February
1942 ready for tendering but no permit was granted by the occupiers
granted for the construction. In July 1942, there was even a nationwide building freeze imposed by the occupiers.
imposed a nationwide construction freeze. Nevertheless, the NHM decided to
maintain and commissioned the architects to work out the plan
and detail the plan. A total of 1850 drawings were completed.
The Department for Reconstruction of Rotterdam (DIWERO) had, however, set the requirement
that part of the building had to be made available for those
for the victims of the war. As a result, a
ring shape was chosen with a light court on the upper floors. The second
floor and part of the third floor were arranged for this purpose.
furnished for this purpose. The layout already took into account that these
rooms would later be added to the bank. The rooms to be
spaces, a standard module of 1.80 meters, the minimum
minimum size of a desk with a seat.

After the war, construction began immediately. On September 24, 1945, the first
pile was struck. During construction, work inside the bank
continued. First the part to the left of the ruin was built, then
Then followed the right part with the new safe. When this safe and an
emergency building were completed, the old bank was demolished further and the
central part was realized.
The bank was built in a traditional and monumental architectural style that
pre-war bank buildings. In the bank of the
NHM incorporates 678,722 yellow-brown hand-formed bricks: 539,800 normal
facade bricks and 138,922 profile bricks. The brick façade surfaces are
decorated with decorative brickwork, natural stone and sculptures by
Dutch artists.
Several sculptures were designed by Nel Klaassen, Hans Petri and Hank Hans.
designed. The main entrance gives access to a richly designed
interior with lots of marble, with artwork, paneling and ornaments.

JUSTIFICATION
Acquisition and selection
Almost sixty years after Elffers and Van Nieuwenhuyzen made their design for the
bank, in 1998-2000 the building was acquired by architectural firm
Kraaijvanger Urbis made a large-scale renovation. In the attic of the bank
this firm found the drawing file that consisted of about 1,000 sheets in
two drawers (a total of about 15 drawers). The drawings were
moved to the office of Kraaijvanger Urbis.
The owner of the drawings, the current firm of Kruisheer Elffers
Architects, was then willing to donate this collection of drawings to the
NAI. In December 2000, a selection of drawings was included in the NAI's
collection of the NAI.
Because of the size of the file, which, after repackaging into portfolios
would cover approximately 25 meters, not all of the drawings could
be included. Therefore, a selection proposal was made. Wijnand
Galema, who works at the Rotterdam Monuments Bureau, was asked to respond to this proposal as an expert.
to respond to this proposal. He also received the tip-off
that the Bettenhaussen archive (NAI code BETT) contains photographs
of various details incorporated into the bench. The firm F.J.C. Bettenhaussen &
Son was a workshop for forgings in Rotterdam.
Selected are floor plans, facade drawings and sections of
the building, drawings with facade fragments, collection sheets concerning
window frames, natural stone and facing bricks, drawings regarding the furniture,
designs of decorative and unusual furnishing elements. Also included are
Some documents relating to the destroyed bank from 1917 have also been acquired.
Not included are: installation drawings, construction drawings,
various detail drawings.
In total the material is now in 8 portfolios, 1
roll box, a flat box and an archive box.