Location: Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Architect: ARUP.

The Mauritshuis, a 17th century city palace in The Hague, underwent a large renovation and extension to house a new exhibition space, an auditorium, and room for educational purposes. Arup’s building services design was nearly invisible, allowing the focus to remain on the art collection while maintaining the monumental nature of the building. The design team mapped all possibilities in detail, even discovering a space behind the wall covering for a temperature and humidity sensor. The underground foyer connects the city palace to the adjacent building of ‘Sociëteit de Witte’, which was completely stripped and redeveloped as exhibition space. The building services concept was worked out on a detailed level, which is rare in the Netherlands.

Photo credit: Tilleman.