Designed by Mecanoo Architects, Kaap Skil, on Texel Island near the village of Oudeshild in the northern Netherlands, is a new maritime and beachcombers museum. The museum is intended to provide a gateway to the golden age of the Dutch East India Company. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the port here was an important departure point for expeditions to the Far East. Many artists portrayed the scenes here, with dozens of ships at anchor. The highlight of the museum is, not surprisingly, an eighteen meter long, four meter deep model of Reede van Texel, which represents in great detail the impressive spectacle that the port once was. The model is at basement level, an intimate environment designed to create a sense of mystery. The feel of the light-flooded first floor is entirely different, where the exhibits, in steel and glass showcases, seem to float in the space. On the ground floor, the entrance and café form a natural frontier between these two different worlds.
The external structure of the building features an irregular gabled roof that plays on the rhythm of the surrounding rooftops, recalling rising and falling waves. Reflecting the local tradition of using recovered materials, established over hundreds of years, the roof and facades are made of recycled wood, which is given new life just like exhibits in the museum. The timber boards of the façade play the dual function of providing shade and creating a striking linear rhythm of light and shade, while simultaneously allowing pleasant views of the surrounding landscape from inside.
PLANS
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ELEVATIONS
CREDITS
Location: Oudeschild, Texel, Netherlands
Client: Maritiem & Jutters Museum
Completion: 2012
Gross Floor Area: 1.200 m2
Architects: Mecanoo architecten
Design Team: Thomas-Luuk Borest, Koen Heslenfeld, Carmen Pereira, Eve Robidoux
Project Management: ABC Management Groep
Contractor: Bouwcombinatie De Geus & Duin Bouwbedrijf
Consultants
Structural: Pieters Bouwtechniek
ME Consultant: Peter Prins
Suppliers
Curtain Wall: Reynaers
Folding Glass Door: Solarlux
Steel Interior Door Frames: MHB
Switches and Systems: Jung
Photo by: © Mecanoo architecten