The Stopera is located in the center of Amsterdam at a bend of the Amstel River between Waterlooplein Square and the Zwanenburgwal Canal, on a plot of land called Vlooienburg, which was reclaimed in the early 17th century.

The opera house building is shaped like a massive block, with a curved front facing the Amstel river.

Next to the Stopera is the Joods Verzetsmonument, a 1988 monument to the Jewish victims of World War II.

Various sites were considered for the new city hall, until they finally chose an expansive area of the Jewish district which had been largely abandoned during the late 1940s as its occupants were deported to concentration camps.

The Amsterdam city council established a commission in 1955 to create a design with the architectural firm of Berghoef and Vegter.