Memoboard

WINNING DESIGN FOR RAINBOW STAIRS The Amsterdam Regional Training Centre (ROC) and NH Amsterdam Zuid hotel, in association with the municipality of Amsterdam, are helping 250 hospitality students re-join the real working world this week. In the coming months this group will grow to 750 students. The NH Amsterdam Zuid hotel on Van Leijenberghlaan has been set up as a temporary training location, where tourism, hotel and facility services students can get hands-on experience, despite the Covid pandemic. They’ll receive supervision and guidance from NH Amsterdam Zuid staff and hospitality programme instructors. Thanks to this joint initiative, students will be able to acquire practical experience they need.

The winning design for the Rainbow Stairs on Zuidplein has been announced. With 1,891 people casting their votes for one of three pre-selected designs, the winner got over 38% of the votes. Meant to promote awareness, visibility and acceptance of LHBTIQ+ people, it features a rainbow in the style of the new Progress Pride Flag. This is the familiar rainbow flag plus an arrow of stripes in five more colours. The colours light blue, pink and white are from the transgender flag, while brown and black symbolize people of colour as well as those

HUNDREDS OF VOCATIONAL STUDENTS GET HANDS-ON EXPERIENCE AT NH AMSTERDAM ZUID who have died of, or are living with, AIDS.

BEACON OF LIGHT RESTORED

With the complex restoration of the light artwork White Noise on top of the 150-metre tall Cellnex media tower, completed on 2 December, the Zuidas skyline has been restored to its former glory. The LED lights needed to be fixed due to wear and tear. The media tower is used for radio (digital radio and analogue emergency alert system), television (digital TV), telecom (mobile networks), microwave transmissions and data centres. It has been one of the city’s tallest structures since 2009, when the tower was not only raised but also ornamented with a design by architect Christof Schwencke. For a better fit with the architectural and design aesthetic of Zuidas, the tower’s concrete shaft was clad in azure-blue light. Conditions up at the top are pretty rough – hence the wear and tear. Temperatures can be stone-cold and there’s no such thing as a soft breeze up there. There’s also a great view of Peregrine falcons bearing down at 360 km per hour on the few pigeons intrepid enough to fly this high.

TCA launches parcel service

Same-day delivery! TCA is a trusted name for personal travel, but did you know they carry parcels too? The taxi service has teamed up with YesHugo Delivery to deliver parcels to your doorstep on the same day they’re sent out.

developments: the strong decline in taxi demand resulting from the coronavirus crisis and the massive increase in online ordering. The parcel service is available to everyone throughout Amsterdam. Whether you’re a company keen to treat customers to tip-top service, or you want to be sure that last-minute birthday gift arrives on time. This service does it all! With taxi drivers doing duty as couriers, your parcels will be delivered locally in practically no time. Plus, the taxis are equipped with driver behaviour analysis and you can track your parcel live online.

This new partnership responds to two

The five reasons TCA in association with YesHugo Delivery is the best option for parcel deliveries in Amsterdam: Faster – Cheaper – Safer – Eco-friendlier – Supports your Amsterdam community. For more information and to book your delivery option: www.tcataxi.nl/yeshugo-delivery

FRED. ROESKESTRAAT DECLARED SMOKE-FREE We’ve got smoke-free office locations, railway stations, sport parks and school squares, and now more and more streets, too. As from 26 November 2020, Fred. Roeskestraat is one of them. Thirty blue tiles scattered up and down the street designate this as a smokefree zone. Behind the initiative are Kiek Verburg and Wytske Kelling, whose children attend the Geert Groote College located here, where teens can regularly be seen lighting up. Verburg and Kelling joined forces and enlisted support from local residents. Several schools and businesses established on Fred. Roeskestraat also rallied to the cause. Though they campaigned for a legal ban, that was too much for the municipality, which agreed to declare the whole street smoke-free instead.

ZUIDASDOK CONSTRUCTION GOES LIVE AGAIN Calling all construction fans! A webcam was recently installed, offering a view of construction of the two roof sections of the new pedestrian passageway at Amsterdam Zuid Station. That means you can watch the work live from both the north and south sides. With work taking place between the tracks and obscured by construction hoarding, watching progress on-site is tricky, but these to webcams allow you a front-row seat. On the north side, the camera is mounted on the roof of the Atrium building and currently offers a view of construction of roof sections 2 and 3 of the future Brittenpassage. Seven sections in all will cover the new passageway’s roof.