After the construction of the Noord-Holland Canal in 1824, which was subsequently widened and replaced by the North Sea Canal in 1876, the western port side in Amsterdam received a significant boost. Around the same time, a necessity for efficient storage of grain increased as city populations grew globally. In Europe and in the Americas, around this time grain silos were being built for vertical storage using shafts. In the end of 19th century, the grain silo KorthalsAltes was built at Silodam, which is both a breakwater and a street, extends 300 meters into the IJ and was originally meant as part of defense works around Amsterdam. The architect Jacob Klinkhamer endowed the building with a monumental character. The two wings housed sixty shafts that contained grain.
On the more than 26-meter-high central section, which used to houses the steam engines and other technical equipment were, hung conveyors the grain from the ships was unloaded onto and transported by the elevator to the attics and from there redistributed via conveyor belts from the basement to trains and ships.
After World War II, the stone silo become too small and the concrete silo adjacent to it was completed in 1952. Over the following decades they fell into disuse, in 1987 decommissioned, and almost immediately thereafter occupied by squatters. The parties held there in the 1980s and the 1990s played a crucial role in the development of the Amsterdam dance and house music scene.
Originally the plan was to demolish both silos and redevelop the area, but industrial heritage was saved destruction when the Stone Silo was declared a national monument in 1996. At the turn of the millennium, the silos were restored, remodeled and converted into apartment buildings. The concrete silo has been inhabited since 1999 and contains 84 social housing units. The Stone Silo followed suit since 2001 and is currently used as both living and working space. Many of the former squatters were able to remain in the newly renovated housing units on favorable rental and sale terms. The architect who supervised the restoration of the silos is André van Stigt.
In 1998-2002, at the head of the Silodam a new modern apartment building was constructed. It was designed by the internationally renowned architectural firm MVRDV. This building, often simply referred to as Silodam consists of 15 social housing and large numbers of commercial and office space. The building stands atop piles driven into the ground under the water of the IJ, has a five meter quay wall, and is designed to resemble a huge chest of drawers, wherein each “tray” contains a different type of housing unit. Each of these units consists of 4 to 11 similar houses and forms mini-neighborhoods within the building, each with a common space, hall, patio, walkway, garden or an alley. The multicolored facade of the building is supposed to be reminiscent of a fully loaded container ship.
After the renovations, the dam itself became a mechanical car park furnished with 214 parking spaces. Cars are lowered into and raised from the garage using lifts. Along the western side, a three-meter wide boardwalk was made out of recycled plastic. It ends in a staircase that goes through the new building onto a terrace that offers panoramic views over the IJ.