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De Machinist is a multi-funcional venue located in a historic part of Rotterdam called Delfshaven.

Delfshaven (which means harbour of Delft) started as a colony of the city of Delft in 1389 when Delft was connected to the river Maas. In 1795 Delfshaven became an independent city and nowadays it’s a district of Rotterdam. Delfshaven played an important role in history of the Netherlands. In 1577 Piet Hein, a famous Dutch naval officer and folk hero, was born here. Hein captured the Spanish treasure fleet loaded with silver during the Eighty Years’ War between Spain and Holland.

De Machinist is a distinctive building situated on the southern tip of Coolhaveneiland in Rotterdam’s Delfshaven district. Completed in 1952, it was designed by the architects Cornelis Elffers and B.J.K. Cramer. The building’s name reflects its original purpose as a machinist school for the merchant navy, a function it served until 2005 when it housed the Shipping and Transport College (STC).

Architecturally, De Machinist is characterized by its L-shaped structure, gabled roof with hammerbeam trusses, and large white wall surfaces punctuated by rounded openings that evoke portholes—a clear nod to its nautical roots. The ground floor originally contained a machine room, while the first floor featured a teachers’ lounge, both underscoring the building’s technical and educational past.

When the building served as a machinist school from 1949 to 2005, the area now occupied by the pub was once home to a steam boiler. This boiler was directly connected to the chimney outside, which was used to vent steam and smoke generated by the school’s training facilities, including the forge and engine rooms.