Turning your garden shed into a living room may not be a brilliant idea, but in the museum world thinking out of the box has resulted in a hybrid new way to showcase art. We’re talking Depot Boijmans van Beuningen, the much-publicised new storage facility of Museum Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam. The museum, one of the premier venues for contemporary art in the Netherlands, is currently closed for an unprecedented, lengthy renovation and refurbishment which is scheduled to be finalised in 2028. Since the venue’s art depots in the basement had become totally inadequate and many of its artefacts had been stored in five off-site depots, it was decided to construct a new storage facility right next to the premises of Museum Boijmans van Beuningen. The newly opened Depot Boijmans van Beuningen may be a storage facility, but it’s one that’s also accessible to the public, a novelty in the museum world.
Designed by lauded Dutch architecture practice MVRDV, the building has an ovoid shape with a flat top and is entirely covered in reflective glass panels. The effect of the latter material optically integrates the building into its surroundings. The artefacts are exhibited according to climatic requirements, rather than artistic movement or era. Each storage space is provided with a specific climate that is maintained by a climate control system. There are five different climate zones, suited to works of art produced with different materials: metal, plastic, organic/inorganic, black-and-white and colour photography. This method of storing the art collection calls for specific climatic conditions in which the air is not overly cold, warm, humid or dry. The regulation of this climate requires precision and consumes lots of energy. The building has been designed to provide optimal conditions for the art while being as energy-efficient as possible.
Sustainable materials have been applied as much as possible—there’s LED lighting, a geothermal heat exchanger, solar panels, an innovative system for climate control, and rainwater storage that supplies water for the rooftop garden and toilet facilities. At Depot Boijmans van Beuningen more than 151,000 artefacts can be found, efficiently stored, either wrapped, hanging from a rack, displayed in a cabinet or exhibited in one of the 13 display cases that are suspended in the atrium. Prints, drawings and photographs will be stored in enclosed spaces, but can be viewed on request.The film and video collection can be viewed in special projection rooms. And the art depot’s doesn’t stop there. A part of Depot Boijmans van Beuningen can be rented as storage space for the art of private collectors, corporate collections or other museums, which can in turn open up these spaces for the public. The top floor features a lush garden with birch trees, grasses and pines, and obviously sweeping views of the city, but is also home to a pavilion where a variety of events can be held.
Depot Boijmans van Beuningen
Museumpark 24 (Centrum)
3015CX Rotterdam
Telephone: +31 10 4419400
Tue-Sun 11am-6pm
Publishers Note
Just to be clear – superfuture® is a design blog and not a political commentator. No surprise there. The scope of our content has always been global and borderless, however that can often mean covering projects in countries where we will not agree with the politics or actions of those countries. In a world that’s as screwed up as ever right now, the focus of our support is to those designers, architects and other creatives who aim to make the world a more liveable one – as opposed to people that try their hardest to destroy it. So if a project hits our desk and we like it based on its design credentials, we may choose to publish regardless of its location or creators nationality. superfuture® has always been inclusive and hopes for all current wars, aggression, violence, hate and extremism to end.
