Press release:

The Dutch National Glass Museum collects, examines and exhibits glass art and design from 1850 onwards. It serves as the Netherlands’ treasury, laboratory and centre of knowledge on glass. The Glass Museum was started in 1953 in the house of Petrus Marinus Cochius, director of Leerdam glass manufacturers and founder of the Leerdam glass tradition.

Having two villas is charming, but provides the visitor with nothing else than to walk from one small room to another. By linking the two buildings, continuous exhibition rooms are created. The connection is more than a corridor; it is display space itself and becomes part of the visitor’s experience. Furthermore, the connecting bridges serve as the museum’s storage space. This open storage is fully accessible, making the National Glass Museum the Netherland’s first museum to give public access to its complete collection.

Design Team: Peter van Assche, Mathijs Cremers, Mick van Essen, Gonçalo Moreira, Gražina Bendikaite, Tereza Novosadová (bureau SLA)

Construction: Sineth Engineering en Krabbendam Boerkoel

Furniture: Piet Hein Eek

Design Period: October 2007- June 2009

Construction Period: June 2009- June 2010

Cost: 1,500,000 euro

Via: bureauSLA.nl