De Ronde Venen is a beautiful, historical example of our ever changing perception on landscape and nature. Formed as a mining landscape, it is now a highly appreciated cultural landscape with unique natural value. Man and nature have created this environment together. We want to express these two faces of the 'cultural nature' present here in the buildings and the layout of the museum. The flour plan is therefore a square, a reference to the geometric ratio of the former reclamation landscape. The roof, which seems cut out of the ground, folds into a more natural curve.
2018
Design completed
Stichting Museum de Ronde Venen
programme
Exhibition space, visitor center, restaurant, museum garden
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Concept
The ‘ground form’ (archetype) of the building is visible from both the street and the water, piquing curiosity. The shape subtly emphasizes the building's unique position in relation to other structures in the area. It forms a kind of inside-out roof, where the gutter line does not run around the roof but diagonally across it. In this way, the building expresses the opening of the interior space to the surroundings. It becomes a sculptural object that integrates with the surrounding landscape as 'land art' while simultaneously standing out.
The sculptural roof is relatively simple in construction. All glued laminated timber beams are straight but placed in such a way that they form a double-curved surface. The beams rest on slender columns behind the facade, which are connected to the window frames. This not only allows them to absorb the wind load of the glass fronts but also creates the largest possible flexible space inside.
The sculptural roof is relatively simple in construction. All glued laminated timber beams are straight but placed in such a way that they form a double-curved surface. The beams rest on slender columns behind the facade, which are connected to the window frames. This not only allows them to absorb the wind load of the glass fronts but also creates the largest possible flexible space inside.
Peat
For visitors, the story of the history of peat cutting begins at the museum's facade. This consists of BioBlocks, blocks of compressed plant remains and sand, also known as ‘young peat’. As a result, the building resembles a large stack of peat bricks drying in the sun, or like a large resilient block of peat lifted from the earth at two points, with the peat bricks ready to be cut. This image is further enhanced by the grasses and herbs from the surrounding area that grow on the roof of the building.
