Noord

The terminus is simply named after the Amsterdam-Noord district. During construction it was called Buikslotermeerplein, after the square next to it in the Buikslotermeer neighbourhood; the final name was fixed in March 2012.

Migrating birds, old maps and a hidden toilet duck

Noord is the northern terminus of line 52, the North/South Line, which carried its first passengers on 22 July 2018. It sits in the Buikslotermeer neighbourhood and was known as Buikslotermeerplein while it was being built. A bus station and a train yard for the metro were added on its north side.

Like every other station on the line, it was designed by Benthem Crouwel Architects. Anyone waiting for a train here is standing on a work of art. Harmen Liemburg created Flyways, a floor of roughly 130 by 13 metres in which old maps meet the birds of Amsterdam and its surroundings, such as swifts, greylag geese and black-tailed godwits. The shapes were cut with a water jet from around 6,700 Mosa ceramic tiles and then fitted together like a jigsaw by a dedicated team of tilers.

The piece is designed so that you never see it all at once: you discover it bit by bit as you walk along the platform. Among the geese and waterfowl are a few nods to modern life, including a Twitter bird, a rubber duck and a well-hidden toilet duck.