Berlage studied architecture at the Zurich Institute of Technology between 1875 and 1878 after which he traveled extensively for three years through Europe.

In the 1880s he formed a partnership in the Netherlands with Theodore Sanders which produced a mixture of practical and utopian projects.

A published author, Berlage held memberships in various architectural societies including CIAM I. Berlage was influenced by the Neo-Romanesque brickwork architecture of Henry Hobson Richardson and of the combination of structures of iron seen with brick of the Castle of the Three Geckos of Domènech i Montaner.

This influence is visible in his design for the Amsterdam Commodities Exchange, for which he would also draw on the ideas of Viollet-le-Duc.

A notable overseas commission was the 1916 Holland House,[2] built as offices for a Dutch shipping company in Bury Street in the City of London (behind Norman Foster's 30 St Mary Axe of 2003).