Museum De Lakenhal is open! On this page you can read all about the ideas behind the restoration and expansion of Museum De Lakenhal: you can see the plans envisaged by the architect, consider the concepts underpinning the new building on Lammermarkt, view the visuals for the modernised museum and find out all there is to know about the various parties involved in this grand project.

Interested in the latest developments? You can view the timeline, image bank, press releases and various downloads here:

TRACES OF EARLIER TIMES

Since 1874 Museum De Lakenhal has been housed in a magnificent, historical building: the palatial 'Laecken-Halle' (Cloth Hall), built in 1640 by the renowned architect Arent van ’s-Gravesande. One of the finest Dutch buildings from the Golden Age, the Laecken-Halle served for centuries as a trading and inspection hall for cloth merchants, whose woollen fabrics were exported from Leiden all over the world. The building’s original facade is still entirely intact, although its interior has changed a great deal over the course of time.

1. In 1869 municipal architect J.W. Schaap started work on remodelling the building as a municipal museum.
2. In 1890 the Hartezaal, a new gallery with fine natural top lighting, was added to the museum.
3. In 1921 construction of the Papevleugel (Pape Wing) doubled the museum’s size.

These activities thus created a palette of building units from varying periods. The starting point for the restoration was to achieve a balance between these time layers by applying the principle of ‘unity in diversity’. Once work has been completed, a central inner courtyard, the Achterplaats, will afford a view of and access to the four building units comprising the museum’s complex. During the modernisation process, traces of almost 375 years of construction history are being showcased rather than erased. These will give each building unit - the seventeenth-century cloth hall, the nineteenth-century art galleries, the twentieth-century Papevleugel and the new, twenty-first-century exhibition galleries – its own individual character. This differentiation will advance and reinforce the complex’s varying functions.

Want to know more about the building’s history? Read the story of the history of the ‘Laecken-Halle’

PERMANENT FIXTURES IN THE BUILDING

Since the opening of the museum in 1874, many interior elements have become permanent fixtures in the building. Known as the structural and nailed-down collection, these elements are of great historical value and thus feature significantly in the restoration project.

SPECIAL FOCUS: THE JORISTRAP

During the nineteenth century, a monumental staircase, the Joristrap (George Stairs) was added to the interior. This staircase forms a coherent ensemble with the sixteenth-century ‘Gravenramen’ (stained-glass windows depicting the counts and countesses of Holland) and is a valuable element in the museum’s architecture. The decision has been taken to move the Joristrap, to ensure that the reinstated Achterplaats is as open as possible in character. While retaining the original interior, the ensemble of staircase and windows is to be relocated from the north side to the west side of the building, where it will continue to connect the first and second floors. This placement will also allow all twelve ‘Gravenramen’ to be displayed together in a panorama of natural daylight.

NEW BUILDING EXPANSION

Museum De Lakenhal’s new building is being constructed to the rear of the ‘Laecken-Halle’, with a front facade on the Lammermarkt. This new edifice will add a total area of 2500 square metres to the museum, 450 square metres of which will be exhibition space. The design for this new wing is a contemporary interpretation of the existing museum complex’s brick-based architecture. Its form and scale are inspired by existing premises in this part of the city, where tall buildings and low-rise structures have stood neighbourly side by side for centuries.

PLENTY OF SPACE FOR THE PUBLIC

The programme of restoration and expansion will considerably improve public facilities at Museum De Lakenhal. There will be an attractive new entrance area in the vestibule of the 'Laecken-Halle', a proper café and a museum shop with an original range of merchandise. Lectures and other events will be held in the new auditorium (120 seats). Young and old will come together in the Studio for workshops, school visits and family activities. All these facilities will be located on the ground floor of the building.

THE ARCHITECTURAL TEAM

The combination of restoration and expansion requires a varied team of architects. The renowned London-based practice Julian Harrap Architects (JHA) is responsible for the restoration work, while the young and talented Happel Cornelisse Verhoeven (HCV) agency of Rotterdam undertook the expansion.

JULIAN HARRAP ARCHITECTS, LONDON

Julian Harrap Architects (JHA) are one of the top international practices in the field of restoration. Practice representative for this project is Robert Sandford. JHA have previously been responsible for the execution of such projects as the restoration of the Sir John Soane's Museum and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. In 2011 they received the Mies van der Rohe Award for their collaboration with architect David Chipperfield on the restoration of the Neues Museum in Berlin.

Read more in the interview published on the museum blog:

HAPPEL CORNELISSE VERHOEVEN, ROTTERDAM

Happel Cornelisse Verhoeven Architecten (HCVA) are led by Ninke Happel, Floris Cornelisse and Paul Verhoeven. This promising trio employs artisanal and sustainable principles in the design of new buildings that connect with their urban or rural environment in a natural and contemporary fashion. HCVA won the 2013 ARC Award for their design for the interior of the Noord-Hollands Archive. In the same year they were also nominated as Architects of the Year.

TEAM OF SPECIALISTS

The architects are supported by a team of specialists with a wealth of experience in fields such as structural physics, electrotechnical and mechanical installations, security, building costs and construction in museums.

COSTS AND BENEFACTORS

In 2014 Leiden City Council approved the Implementation Order for Museum De Lakenhal’s restoration and expansion and allocated 16.6 million euros for the construction work. The museum set itself the task of raising the remaining funds required. Thanks to a successful campaign, Museum De Lakenhal has now secured more than three million euros in additional funding, whose sources include private donations, an impulse contribution of one million euros by the BankGiro Lottery, the sum of €790,000 from the Province of Zuid-Holland and contributions by the Lucas van Leyden Mecenaat, a highly successful network of supportive local citizens and businesses. Other contributions have been made by the American Friends of Museum De Lakenhal, Dutch private and government funds, sponsorship and other donations.

DISTRICT DEVELOPMENT: CULTURAL QUARTER

From 2019 the facade of Museum De Lakenhal’s new building will adjoin the Lammermarkt. Once the underground carpark has been completed, this public space will be fitted out as a vibrant cultural hub. It is also a green oasis that forms part of the Singelpark, the longest urban park in the Netherlands. The museum is centrally located in Leiden’s Cultural Quarter: the district that stretches from Molen De Valk to Museum Boerhaave, encompassing the Scheltema cultural centre, De Veenfabriek music theatre, De Nobel music centre, the Leidse Schouwburg, the Kijkhuis cinema and Theater Imperium. While the historical 'Laecken-Halle' looks out over the ‘old city’, Museum De Lakenhal’s new building will become the face of the ‘young city’.