Depot

The Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen is an oval-shaped building made of glass and mirrors. Its exterior reflects the Rotterdam skyline, offering a different view depending on where the visitor stands.

It stands 40 meters tall and has a diameter of 40 meters at the base and 60 meters at the top. It was designed by Winy Maas from the Rotterdam architectural firm MVRDV and is located in the Museumpark next to the Boijmans Van Beuningen Museum.

The building has a surface area of 15,000 square meters and consists of seven floors, including the ground floor and the rooftop.

It is the world’s first depot that provides access to an entire collection, encompassing 151,000 art objects with an approximate value of 8 billion euros. Its aim is to offer a behind-the-scenes view of the museum world and make the entire art collection accessible to the public.

The Depot features exhibition spaces, a cinema, a rooftop garden, and a restaurant, in addition to ample storage space for art and design. Birch trees have been planted on the rooftop.

One of the most striking features of the building is its reflective facade, which consists of 6,609 square meters of glass divided into 1,664 mirror panels. Many residents and cultural institutions in Rotterdam supported the Depot by adopting these panels for 1,000 euros each.

Thanks to the use of modern materials and special techniques, the building saves energy and water, making it a great example of sustainable construction.

Het Nieuwe Instituut building reflected in Depot’s mirrors

It cost around 100 million euros to build, with one-third of the money raised from private individuals.

Depot opened to the public in September 2021 for a weekend preview, and all seven thousand tickets available were sold out within three hours.

They expect the Depot to attract between 150,000 and 250,000 visitors per season.

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