24 Jul 2012
After undergoing an extensive restoration, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam is ready again to house its collections of the Dutch nation’s treasures from the Golden Age.
Last week the fully refurbished building was handed back to the 19th century museum. Arup, together with joint venture partners Royal Haskoning and DGMR, were responsible for the building services, building physics, fire engineering, IT consultancy and lighting design, from competition to site supervision.
The renovation of the building fabric included a complete overhaul of mechanical and electrical systems, the restoration and improvement of the thermal performance of the building envelope as well as adding new support buildings and a new basement.
Next stage
Arup has now been contracted to also bring the so-called Philips Wing, which housed the ‘Masterpieces’ exhibition with the most important pieces of the museum during the main building works, up to the same standards as the remaining buildings.
The Rijksmuseum will now start to return the artworks; the Night Watch by Rembrandt, the most famous piece of the collection, will return to its original exhibition room.
It is expected that putting all the artefacts back in place will take various months and that the Rijksmuseum re-opens in the spring of 2013.