13 guidelines to steer Zeilfort Kudelstaart through the complex waters of sustainable hospitality practices.

One of the UNESCO heritage sites in the Netherlands is the Stelling van Amsterdam; a 135-kilometer-long defence line with 46 fortresses in a radius of 15 to 20 kilometers from the city of Amsterdam. The defence line was designed in such a way that the land outside of the line could be flooded, protecting Amsterdam from an invasion of the enemy. During the First and Second World War, the forts were manned preemptively, but never really used in terms of defence (Provincie Noord-Holland, 2021). Since the buildings no longer function with their original use, most of the forts face or have faced a redevelopment to give the forts a new purpose, a good example of adaptive reuse of heritage. One redevelopment that is still in progress, is that of Fort Kudelstaart.

The long-term development goal of Fort Kudelstaart is to redevelop the fort into a nautical centre where one can eat, sleep and meet: Zeilfort Kudelstaart. Therefore, the centre will be consisting of multiple hospitality units such as a hotel, restaurant, bar, conference halls, spa, marina and café. Such a combination of units implies a high impact on the environment and society but is necessary for hospitality practices to be financially feasible and economically healthy (Deng & Dart, 1994). The redevelopment of the fort has been extensively elaborated in a masterplan, which intends to strengthen the identity of the fort whilst maintaining the historical UNESCO heritage and staying connected with the community. The project is realized by Martijn de Liefde as investor, developer and fortress keeper.


In order to give the fort a sustainable purpose towards the final realization of the masterplan, the aim of this research is to provide advice on what guidelines should be followed when designing temporary hospitality practices in Zeilfort Kudelstaart.

Image credits

Icon image: Zeilfort Kudelstaart

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