MVRDV's shiny Collection Building for Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam

MVRDV has the winning proposal to design the Collection Building for the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam.

The bowl-like public art depot will let the public see the ins and outs of the museum's daily activities, and also let private art collectors store their own collections in ideal museum conditions. Completion of the project is expected in 2017.

Keep reading to find out more.

Project description:

"The building with a surface of 15.000m2 is an open art depot featuring exhibition halls, a sculpture roof garden and a restaurant. The public can see what’s going on behind the scenes in a museum and private art collectors will be able to store their own collection in ideal Museum conditions. The design – a reflective round volume – responds to its surroundings, Rotterdam’s Museumpark in which it will be completed in 2017. The allocated budget is 50 million Euro."

"Collection Building is an art depot open to the public. A public route zigzags through the building, from the lobby on the ground floor where a café can be found up to an exhibition space, sculpture garden and restaurant on the roof. On the way up the route passes along and through art depots and restoration workshops. In depots visible from the route, the exhibition can be changed on a daily basis by simply moving storage racks so each visit to the building can offer a unique experience. On three floors the route passes through exhibition spaces which will be programmed by Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen.

The building - which will store the precious art collection of Rotterdam - will also have spaces not accessible to the general public. For example logistics, quarantine and room for private art collections whose owners can visit their art and even enjoy it in private spaces comparable to the art-equivalent of a sky box. This is a new commercial service offered by the museum. Additionally depots and an office of philanthropic foundation De Verre Bergen will be located in the Collection Building.  The roof featuring a restaurant, sculpture garden and exhibition space offers wide views over Rotterdam and will be the new home for the Futuro, the ufo-shaped house of Finish architect Matti Suuronen."

"Winy Maas says: 'A public art depot is a new phenomenon to the Netherlands, normally these depots are hidden in the periphery of cities. It is a bold initiative which will raise the attention of the international museum circles. It offers space to Museum Boijmans van Beuningen and will help it to strengthen its international profile.'

The Collection Building will be realised on the northern edge of Rotterdams Museumpark, realised by OMA with Yves Brunier in 1994. In order to spare the park, the volume is designed as a compact round volume with a small footprint and will be clad with a reflective glass façade. This will make the building less visible and allow reflections, the public can see what is happening elsewhere in the park. Where needed the reflection will be lesser for transparency and to avoid unwanted light effects.  

40% of the 15.000m2 will be visible or accessible to the public. The building will feature seven different climatic conditions facilitating ideal conditions for art storage, offices and the public. The ambition is to reach sustainability classification BREEAM Excellent.    

In the autumn of 2013 five architecture teams presented their designs for the Collection Building in a competition won by MVRDV. The other contenders were Koen Van Velsen, Harry Gugger with Barcode Architects, Neutelings Riedijk and Mad with NIO. MVRDV was disqualified from the competition after an alleged breach of the regulations but was vindicated in a legal procedure and declared official winner. MVRDV won the competition together with Pieters Bouwtechniek, IGG Consultants and DGMR Consultants"

Project credits:

Location: Rotterdam, Netherlands
Year: 2013+
Client: Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, De Verre Be rgen Foundation, the City of Rotterdam
Program: 15.000m2 art depot with restoration facilities, exhibition spaces, offices, logistics, bar, restaurant, sculpture garden and private collectors facilities.
Budget: 50 million Euro
Design Team MVRDV: Winy Maas, Jacob van Rijs, Nathalie de Vries with Fokke Moerel and Sanne van der Burgh, Marta Pozo Gil, Gerard Heerink, Elien Deceuninck, Saimon Gomez Idiakez, Nacho Velasco, Jason Slabbynck, Mariya Gyaurova

Partners: Sustainability: BREEAM Excellent (goal)
Images: MVRDV - Antonio Coco
Structure: Pieters Bouwtechniek
Cost engineering: IGG Consultants
Installations: DGMR Consultants
Legal Project: Richard Jan Roks, Kennedy Van Der Laan, Amsterdam, with Jan Knikker, Fokke Moerel

Images courtesy of MVRDV.

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