His father Dirk Leonard Roosenburg was a doctor, his mother Selinde came from the entrepreneurial family Fentener van Vlissingen.

He grew up in The Hague and attended the Hogereburgschool, where he showed good performance in geometry and drawing.

[2] At the request of his childhood friend Albert Plesman he designed the KLM headquarters in The Hague.

[3] When he was almost sixty, Roosenburg entered into a partnership with two employees: Verhave and Luyt, and later De Jong also joined the firm as a partner.

Roosenburg was the designer of the KLM head office, which was opened in his presence by Prince Bernhard.

Roosenburg was a contemporary of Willem Dudok, Jacobus Johannes Pieter Oud and Gerrit Rietveld.

He was the designer of the Stevin and Lorentz drainage sluices and the customs office of the Afsluitdijk, and of the Velser Tunnel.

The award is given in memory of Dirk Roosenburg for projects that have furthered the structural quality of the city within the municipal boundaries.