Maakhaven is more than a collective of companies. It hosts a network of artists and craftsmen. Maakhaven is a culture factory that is open to all creative disciplines, because we see power in the addition and the cross-overs of disciplines.



Maakhaven is a sustainable and self-sufficient building where the users themselves do the maintenance work in the building and design their own work spaces. Even though the amount of the work spaces has increased, the open structure within the architecture of the building has remained. It naturally invites collaboration and the exchange of ideas while casually visiting each others work spaces.



We want to strengthen the potential of Maakhaven by solidifying and improving the (internal) developments of the past decade. We want to welcome more creative entrepreneurs, grow our network and improve our sustainability. We also want to become more attractive for investors and become more meaningful in this quickly developing part of the city.

‘In 1928, the municipality (of the Hague) decided to build an Oil Port in Laakhaven and bring to an end the unsafe practice of storing oil in the inner city. Various oil companies settled in the direct surroundings of the port and along the nearby situated Calandkade.


One of the first companies settling here was the Batavian Oil Company (later known as Shell). In 1929, there were plans handed in at the municipality to build the central work space (CW)(is deze afkorting nodig als hij eenmalig in de tekst verschijnt?) and the stock room (SR)(is deze afkorting nodig als hij eenmalig in de tekst verschijnt?) at the water side. A location to maintain the quickly growing arsenal of petrol pumps, BOC’s own vehicle fleet, such as tankers, airport and fuel cars.

Architect J.D. Postma was invited by Shell to design their new establishment. After the war Postma’s office had become one of the biggest architecture offices in The Netherlands, that was specialized in industrial complexes.

The building that arose was an open structure, a large hall with interlinked shed roofs, consisting of a riveted metal construction with coffered concrete roofing sheets, a phenomenon that was still a new for that time. '


THIHF (The Hague Industrial Heritage Foundation) and the Monument Platform unanimously agree that this building is of big importance for The Hague industrial heritage, and that it holds cultural and historical value. The building marks the transition from The Batavian Oil Company to the multinational Shell (that still has its headquarters in The Hague).’

Even though most maintenance work has already been done, construction works on the building continue. New workshops arise in the hall, overdue maintenance work gets eliminated, and the internal infrastructure is being updated. Because of doing our own construction and because we have our independent status, we ourselves hold financial control, which allows us big achievements with relatively low budget.