Today marks 99 days until the MVRDV-designed Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen opens its doors in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Upon opening on November 6th, the building will be the world’s first publicly accessible art depot, making its entire art collection of 151,000 works available to see. 

The depot breaks from tradition as museums worldwide usually only display six to ten percent of their collections at any given time with the rest being in storage. Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen makes all of its works accessible and makes visible the processes behind preservation and restoration, which are normally closed off to the public. 

The museum’s collection was formerly housed in the basement of the adjacent Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen but was increasingly emptied in 2015 due to unsafe, overcrowded, and dated conditions. The art was distributed and stored in five external depots in the Netherlands and abroad. Under the same roof again, the works are now safely contained in a “purpose-built and future-proof” facility, as described by MVRDV. 

The approximately 130-foot tall, bowl-shaped structure is open to all directions. This form allows the building to have a relatively small footprint, minimizing its ground surface area and maximizing the roof space, which features a restaurant, an award-winning rooftop forest, and scenic views of Rotterdam. The fully mirrored façade consists of 6,609 square meters of glass, divided into 1,664 mirror panels that effectively blends the depot into its surroundings. 

Inside, the storage depots are accessed via a dramatic atrium with crisscrossing staircases and suspended glass display cases, which will show works selected by museum curators. The stairs lead through the six floors that contain depot compartments and restoration studios and film and presentation rooms. Behind glass, the restoration studios provide a live look into specialist restorations.

Currently, 90,000 pieces have been moved into their new home, with their locations in the depot determined by their climatic needs and size. There are five different climate zones, suitable for different materials, such as metal, plastic, paper, and black and white and color photography.

“Art depots by their nature are hermetic, but we wanted to make this an open and accessible building — safe for art but as inviting as possible to visitors,” said MVRDV founding partner Winy Maas. “Despite its size, it has become a light-footed building, with a roof forest at 34 metres that enriches the Museumpark. I look forward to the opening, the moment when people can experience the space and the art for themselves, by taking the elevator or walking up the stairs that criss-cross the atrium.”