UNStudio originally designed the Valkhof Museum in Nijmegen in 1995 and the three storey, 7,637 m2 building was completed in 1999. In 2013 the client, theValkhof Museum, invited UNStudio to undertake the design for the renovation of the museum, with a view to facilitating the growing number of visitors and enhancing theorganisational and sustainable qualities of the building.

The Valkhof is a Museum for Archeology, historical and modern art - with a focus on the Roman archaeology of Nijmegen and the province of Gelderland, the history and art of the city of Nijmegen and a renowned collection of Pop Art. The museum houses a permanent exhibition space on the 1st floor, space for changing exhibitions in the basement and a multifunctional ground floor with a cafe, museum shop and an event space connected to a small auditorium, educational facilities and office spaces.

The main goals of the renovation are to increase spaces for temporary exhibitions, optimise routing and transparency, enhance visitor experience and interior climate and highlight public functions. Essential also to the renovation is the improvement of the installations and building in order to create a more sustainable building. The museum is aiming for a BREEAM NL in use Musea certification.

UNStudio’s design response to the transformation of the museum is based on three key concepts: the strengthening of thecentral stairsas a ‘big detail’, the improvement of the public programme and spaces and an increase in accessibility through spatial organisation.

The Transformation The Valkhof Museum is a hybrid building that merges the museum experience with a central public meeting place within the city. The large central stairwayorganises the building and connects the city, the café and the museum with one another.

In the remodelling of the museum, a generous entrance hall and a multifunctional stairway form the heart of the building, with the café and museum shop additionally acting as keycomponents and enhancing the public qualities of the museum. In the redesign the café is repositioned to the front of the building and made more transparent from the exterior plaza that fronts the building. The museum shop is also made visible from the public square. This large public lobby and its amenities are accessible to visitors without an entrance ticket, enabling the museum to function as a destination within the city of Nijmegen.

An increase in the number of temporary exhibitions is made possible through the optimisation and increase of exhibition spaces in the basement level, while the educational facilities are moved to the rear of the building, yet remain partially visible from the lobby. A large public elevator is visible from the entrance area and the goods elevator is relocated in order to enable clear view lines to the exterior plaza.

Central stairs Thelarge multifunctional stairway forms the main organisational element in the design and is optimisedin direct relation to the reorganisation of the programmes and spaces in order to improve routing and connectivity. The broad continuous staircase provides access to the first floor and a direct connection from the entrance lobby to the exhibition spaces in the basement level.The addition of seating areas and podia along the stairs creates a central meeting area within the lobby which can also be used for presentations and events.

Museum Het Valkhof in Nijmegen is housed in a magnificent building designed by the architect Ben van Berkel. The building has seen the museum grow over the past 12 years to become an established name in the world of Roman archaeology, old masters and pop art. Drawing on the rich diversity of its collections, the museum tells the stories surrounding the history, art and culture of Nijmegen.

Telling stories represents a new way of familiarising the public with the museum’s collections. Until recently, Museum Het Valkhof served primarily as an exhibition space for objects. Telling stories entails much more than simply putting objects on display, not least the new demands it places on the building and its technical systems.

The museum has therefore decided to renovate the building, and has asked Theateradvies to prepare a design brief for the renovation. The motivations for choosing Theateradvies are our experience with public buildings and our unique approach, focusing emphatically on the content of the stories that the museum wishes to tell.