The triangular island took its name after a number of canals and shipbuilding facilities that rendered its appearance similar to Amsterdam.

[2] Peter the Great took the opportunity to create a naval port, including a wooden palace for his own use.

In 1732 the Admiralty engaged architect Ivan Korobov [ru] to construct a network of basins and wooden warehouses along the island's perimeter in order to store lumber for shipbuilding.

By 1788, when the project halted, Jean-Baptiste Vallin de la Mothe had designed and supervised the construction of a highly pitched Neoclassical arch over the canal connecting the Moika with the inner basin (the "Kovsh", Russian: Ковш).

This magnificent red-brick gateway to the island, known as the New Holland Arch, is flanked by massive Tuscan columns of red granite.

[6] The planned £256m complex is intended to combine commercial and residential properties with the restoration of monuments that are protected by UNESCO.