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Stedelijk Museum

Benthem Crouwel Architekten

Stedelijk Museum
By Benthem Crouwel Architekten -

The Stedelijk Museum is in Museumplein, the square in Amsterdam where the Van Gogh Museum, Rijksmuseum and Concertgebouw are all located. A plan is in place to raise the museum’s international profile, which has involved increasing its presence in the square itself through the construction of a new 10 thousand square metre (107,640 sq.ft.) building for presenting temporary exhibitions and displaying the museum’s extraordinary collection of modern and contemporary art and design. The original neo-Renaissance red brick building, which dates from 1895 and was designed by architect Adriaan Willem Weissman, has been renovated by eliminating more recent additions and enhancing those original features for which it has always been so highly prized: namely, its naturally luminous interior, large spaces, and great staircase. Designed by Benthem Crouwel Architects, the dynamic new structure strikes a sharp contrast with the original building, its strong visual impact created in part by its white Twaron cladding, a fibre-reinforced composite material. The design projects the museum towards the square, creating glazed area of transition between the old and the new, making it possible to perceive the two distinct entities without compromising the fluidity of the internal pathways, created so as not to create any breaks between the original and new exhibition spaces. The extension encompasses a new main entrance. Located at ground floor level, this area is glazed so as to open a window onto the comings and goings out in the square and, at the same time, onto the activities inside the museum, such as the information centre, bookshop, store and restaurant. A direct connection exists between the exhibition areas on the basement levels and in the new building, which seems to float over the ground floor, in the form of two escalators in a ‘tubular’ space, without any visual contact with the exterior so that the less-reflective activities on the ground floor don’t detract from the mood of viewing the exhibits. Through the use of steel beams in the façade, large open spaces have been created in the new wing for accommodating large works. Designed in conjunction with Arup, the structure makes it possible for the building to be supported at only six points, with five columns and one concrete wall.

Location: Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Client: Stedelijk Museum
Completion: 2012
Gross Floor Area: 9.423 m2
Architects: Benthem Crouwel Architects
Lead Architect: Mels Crouwel
Project Architect: Joost Vos
Design Team: Mels Crouwel, Joost Vos, Jan Benthem, Ronno Stegeman, Alexandra Jezierski, Daniel van der Voort, Rogier Putter, Moon Brader, Roy van Rijk, Job Schroen, Marleen van Driel, Florentijn Vleugels, Ton Liemburg, Jan Dirk Valewink
Construction Manager: DHV Bouw en Industrie
Contractor: Volker Wessels

Consultants
Structural, Lighting: Arup
Technical: Imtech Technical Engineering
Advisors: Huisman en Van Muijen
Suppliers
Twaron®: Teijin Aramid
Photography: © Jannes Linders

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