Nederland - Zaandam, Inntel Hotel

I had heard about it and saw a lot of pictures of the Inntel Hotel in Zaandam, but never seen it myself. I have to say it is one of the most remarkable (modern) buildings in my country.

The very unusual building is located in the new centre of Zaandam. The external walls look like a lot of small houses, all piled up on top of each other. This spectacular design reflects the traditional architecture of the Zaan region with its cozy wooden houses. It seems that there are about seventy house fronts, each one on top of another. The walls are painted in several so called “Zaan-green” colours. Just one house has a blue colour, referring to “The Blue House”, a work by Claude Monet, which he painted in Zaandam in 1871

The hotel - opened in 2010 - was built as part of the so called “Inverdan project”, which started in 2003. The aim of the project was to restructure the centre of Zaandam. This traditional Zaan architecture is also found in other “Inverdan buildings” - like the new townhall of Zaanstad.