A historic post office in Venlo has been given a new purpose as accommodation for Museum van Bommel van Dam. BiermanHenket designed the renovation, as well as two contemporary additions and the interior. The concept – from vision and design to execution – is a high-end, sustainable transformation for a future-proof and inviting museum.

The museum wanted new housing to facilitate larger numbers of visitors and manifest itself as a cultural meeting place in the city. At the same time, the former post office in the city centre, a nationally listed building designed by Chief Government Architect Hayo Hoekstra in 1938, required a new purpose. Situated on a main route from the historical city centre to the station, with a park nearby and the Limburg Museum in the immediate vicinity, the design for the museum also incorporated an urban vision. As part of the project, the park was extended to the museum, forming a green carpet from the station towards the city centre. 

The desired approachable nature of the museum and the urban vision have ensured that the building has been designed to be largely accessible to the public. A public experience route has been incorporated into the building, starting on the ground floor and ending on the second floor at a green roof terrace and the art window. New additions are designed to be sustainable and circular. Both the new park entrance and the art window are clad in fully recyclable aluminium shingles. A new steel staircase in a monumental stairwell is removable and made of prefabricated cut blue steel. A unique, circular glazed tile was developed for the interior cladding of the entrance desk and the museum bar, among others. An integral design team – with architect, building physicist and installation advisor – produced a gasless monument, where sustainability and circularity were considered right down to the recycled fabric air ducts.

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