Collection Centre Netherlands

The CollectieCentrum Nederland (CC NL) has opened in Amersfoort. It is the result of an intensive collaboration between four major collection-managing institutions: The Rijksmuseum, the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands, the Netherlands Open Air Museum, and Museum Paleis Het Loo. The CollectieCentrum Nederland stores approximately half a million objects.

Sustainable management and preservation of collections

The reason for this new construction project was the overcrowded, outdated, and inadequate depots. Museums have increasingly large collections, which means part of the collection must be stored for short or long periods. It was jointly decided that the new depot should be sustainable and also welcoming, transparent, open, and accessible.

Design based on the ‘kop-hals-romp’ farmhouse

Sustainability was central to the construction of the new depot. The well-known ‘kop-hals-romp’ farmhouse, which guarantees a clear separation between the stables and the residence, served as inspiration for CC NL. By functionally separating offices and other general facilities (kop), logistics, restoration, and research (hals), and storage space (romp), choices could be made per function in terms of climate, security, and accessibility. The desired 15 degrees in the depot is not an ideal working climate for humans.

Minimal effort for ideal conditions

The depot floor consists of a simple, non-insulated concrete slab, which provides thermal coupling between the ground and the building. The enormous mass beneath the concrete floor stabilizes the temperature, which in turn enables simple moisture regulation. All these smart solutions result in fewer installations, less maintenance, and therefore lower costs and reduced energy consumption. The same clever compartmentalization was applied to fire safety, achieving maximum fire protection with minimal disruption to logistics and work processes.

CC NL ranks among the 15 most sustainable buildings in the Netherlands

We guided the project as BREEAM* Expert and building physics advisor from the design phase. In October 2018, the depot already achieved an Outstanding BREEAM design certificate with a score of over 90%. Upon completion, it even reached 91.62%, placing CC NL at number 15 among the most sustainable buildings in the Netherlands. Peutz provided advice in the areas of building physics, sustainability, and fire safety.