Museum de Lakenhal : a Portrait

Meta Knol, Koen van Synghel

Since its reopening, 380 years to the day from its original completion, Museum de Lakenhal in Leiden has been hailed as a landmark project, both for its radical and meticulous approach to weaving 21st century architecture into a centuries old fabric, as well as for its fully integrated vision of what a present day museum experience can be.00Young Dutch architecture bureau Happel Cornelisse Verhoeven Architects teamed up with internationally renowned restauration specialists Julian Harrap Architects to deliver a fully reinvented, high-performing and future oriented museum that nevertheless honours history. They crafted a fourfold miracle: the restoration of the 17th-century Laecken-Halle, the creation of space within the building for first-rate visitor facilities, the addition of a new exhibition wing, and the behind-the-scenes provision of necessary logistics, building services and...