Paul Smith

Meervaart is a theater and congress center on Meer en Vaart in Amsterdam Nieuw West, and it has served as the cultural centre of that part of the city since 1977. It sits beside the Sloterplas, a pond surrounded by green space in a neighbourhood that has changed considerably in recent years. The programme covers a wide spread of contemporary performing arts, from concerts and theater to film, and the venue puts on roughly three hundred performances and theater shows each year. The building has two large theater halls, with capacities ranging from 150 up to 800 people, along with several smaller breakout rooms. That range lets the same site handle an intimate show and a full house on the same day. A second location, Meervaart Studio, operates on Osdorpplein and has been described as a modern, metal fronted space for arts performances. Alongside the stage programme, Meervaart runs about one hundred national and international conferences and meetings every year, so the building works as both a theater and an event venue, and organisers have commented on how the theater setting adds character to corporate occasions. The venue is known for taking a clear position on sustainability and social responsibility, something it has pursued for more than forty years, and it is regarded as one of the more progressive theaters in the city when it comes to programming. Practical access is part of its profile too. It lies about five minutes from the A10 ring road, between Schiphol and the city centre, with a parking garage under the building, a tram stop at the door and a direct bus link to the airport.