In Eindhoven's Genneper Parken, a wedge-shaped building topped with a garden seems to have emerged from its verdant surrounds. Designed by Studio Marco Vermeulen, VONK Museum is a passive building constructed from CLT repurposed the architecture firm's pavilion for the 2019 Dutch Design Week, hempcrete panels that were prefabricated locally, and pigmented lime plaster.
"VONK is the first museum building in the Netherlands where biobased materials and sustainable techniques are applied on a large scale in many different ways."
— Studio Marco Vermeulen
Context
The new building unites the existing open-air Prehistoric Museum with the Kempenland Museum. It houses approximately 25,000 objects and explores 10,000 years of regional history—from the discovery of fire to Eindhoven today—through interactive installations, workshops and exhibitions. Located in an existing nature reserve, the museum building is part of a new green environment—both in material and form. The biobased design nods to the high performance nature of low-tech materials—specifically those present in the adjacent Prehistoric Village, which features buildings made from wood, clay and reeds.
Green roof with solar system
The green roof appears to have split from the ground, creating the image of a building that seems to have been carved from the landscape. Designed by Van Helvoirt Groenprojecten, the accessible roof garden is completed with native plants and a circular solar garden that provides renewable energy to the building. The roof garden is supported by wooden columns, beams and roof boxes. The rotated trusses give the roof a sculptural curve, which creates a range of ceiling heights inside: higher in the workshop and the exhibitions, and lower in the restaurants and offices.
Hemp and lime facade
The building facades are made from lime-hemp panels, prefabricated by a local supplier, finished with lime plaster pigmented in a gradient of natural hues. The layers refer to the strata of the surrounding landscape, representing the fertile ground upon which the region was built and from which it has flourished. Nesting boxes for birds and bats have been incorporated into the facade.
Recycled CLT interior
The interior walls are made from CLT that was previously used in Biobasecamp—a pavilion designed by Studio Marco Vermeulen for Dutch Design Week in 2019. This project, previously featured on Archello and built from modular CLT panels, was designed for deconstruction. In the VONK Museum, Biobasecamp finds its next purpose.
Spatial program
The spatial program has been arranged to ensure maximum views of the surrounding landscape and intuitive navigation of the space. Museum visitors enter the building from the park, all functions that do not require direct daylight—the introductory exhibition and timeline—are positioned at the heart of the building.
These are followed by the interactive maker shed, a large double-height space where visitors are invited to participate in the making of the vonken, or "sparks," that are taken into the museum park through the large doors once every few months. This shed leads to the museum park and the Prehistoric Village and is connected to the restaurant, above which is a second level that houses a conference room.
"The most dynamic part of the building is the maker's shed, where ‘vonken’ are built together with visitors. These objects represent the historical events in which ‘the spark ignited’ and changes were set in motion that helped shape the Eindhoven region."
— Studio Marco Vermeulen
Natural climate control
The building incorporates passive design strategies to minimise energy demand and maintain a comfortable climate indoors. Natural cross ventilation is facilitated by "gills" that are positioned at the two highest points of the building. These hatches are only closed with outdoor temperatures reach high or low extremes, at which time mechanical systems kick in to heat or cool as required.
Water management system
The project also features an integrated water-management system that combines wastewater reuse, rainwater retention, a green roof and landscape-based drainage. The aim is to retain water within the site for as long as possible, reuse it where appropriate, and reduce pressure on the municipal sewer system during heavy rainfall. The project is also part of the wider Weerbaar Dommelland climate-resilience initiative.
