National Glass Museum in Leerdam

Once the villa on Lingedijk 30 had been acquired, bureau SLA were commissioned to turn the two buildings into a home for the National Glass Museum. It was suggested to turn Cochius’ former residence into an exhibition area and to use the second villa as offices, storage facilities and a cafeteria. While this fulfilled functional requirements, it seemed like a missed opportunity to us at bureau SLA, as the new situation would appear to be not very different from the old one. The museum would have more space, indeed, but this would not be visible from the outside.

Glass Museum Inside View 1

Bureau SLA wanted to see what would happen if we made both buildings fully accessible to the public? The museum’s employees could eat in the restaurant, the visitors could have full access to the collection of glass, including that in storage, and the administrative staff could work in the library. Furthermore, the exhibition rooms could be far more spacious. Instead of the small rooms of the existing villas, in which visitors need to climb up and down stairs all the time, circulation and exhibition spaces could to be much more generous.

Glass Museum Side View at Night 2

The four pedestrian bridges that bureau SLA designed draws everything together in an elegant manner. Visitors can idle through extensive rooms; only one lift is needed and an enormous amount of space is gained. The bridges serve as storage space in which all the museum’s objects are on display, in cases specifically designed for the museum by Piet Hein Eek. In the historical villas not much more needed to be done; they were elegant by themselves. Repairs were carried out where needed, with some later additions removed. The bridges were constructed from several layers of polycarbonate panels and covered by a translucent skin of grey, powder-coated, aluminium mesh. During the day they contrast sharply with the refined old villas, whereas at night they glow in reflection of the 9000 glass objects inside them.

Glass Museum Model 2

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• Architects: Bureau SLA
• Designers: Peter van Assche, Mathijs Cremers
• Design Team: Mick van Essen , Gonçalo Moreira, Gražina Bendikaite, Tereza Novosadová
• Client: Kleurrijk Wonen, Geldermalsen
• Project Management: BLOEII project development, Deil
• Constructural Engineer: Sineth Engineering B.V., Schiphol & Krabbendam Boerkoel B.V., Soest
• Climate Engineer: Schreuder, Alkmaar
• Contractor: Aannemersbedrijf J. Van Daalen, Gorinchem
• Usable Floor Area: 1.000 m2
• Gross Volume: 3.000 m3
• Exposition Space: 550m2
• Depot: 160 m2
• Restaurant: 50m2
• Office spaces: 100m2
• Museum Shop: 50m2
• Preliminary Design: March, 2008
• Definitive Design: November 2008
• Start Construction: April 2009
• Finish Construction: May 2010
• Building Costs incl. Installation: € 1.500.000 excl. VAT.

Article & image source: Bureau SLA. Glass museum images by Jeroen Musch

Tags: Leerdam, Netherlands

Category: Art Gallery

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