The building of Magna Plaza

Built in 1899 the Magna Plaza building has been originally Amsterdam’s Central Post Office (now on Singel 250, corner Radhuisstraat), so the architect followed the mood of the period giving it several crowned gothic towers and rich late gothic ornamental façade. The building has been a technological wonder of its time. Built on 4650 piles stuck in the muddy ground, it had a huge main hall, galleries hanging above it and a lot of natural light through the huge windows and a glass roof. It was an important place in the life of the city not only as a post office. During the rainy day, the darker corners of the main hall served as a refuge for the homeless. Still, the Amsterdam population never accepted its architecture, feeling that it was too ornamental, calling its style "post office gothic", pointing that it reminds the building of Parliament in London.

Technology changes made the building too big for its function, as many other post, telephone and bank offices in town. During the thorough reconstruction in 1990, the escalators were added inside and the interior has been turned into the Amsterdam first shopping mall.