groninger museum renovation: studio job + maarten baas + jaime hayón

job lounge, designed by studio job for the groninger museum’s recent renovation project image courtesy of the groninger museum

the groninger museum in the netherlands has recently reopened its doors to the public following an eight-month, six million euro renovation project.

interior additions include a renovated entrance hall by dutch design firm studio job, a refurnished mendini restaurant created by dutch designer maarten baas, and the new digital visitors’ information center by spanish artist jaime hayón.

italian designer alessandro mendini designed a tile wall for the exterior of the mendini pavilion.

view of job lounge image courtesy of the groninger museum

studio job drew stylistic influence from upscale 19th century gentlemen’s clubs and private smoking rooms in their redesign of the museum’s reception hall, now called job lounge.

feature detail of job lounge images courtesy of the groninger museum

the new mendini restaurant, renovated by maarten baas image courtesy of the groninger museum

maarten baas refurnished the museum’s mendini restaurant with a new series of his ‘clay’ furniture works. all of the collection’s pieces hide their metal frame beneath layers of bright, hand-sculpted industrial clay, and the works for this project were designed exclusively for the groninger renovation.

detail view of table and ‘clay’ chairs image courtesy of the groninger museum

the new visitor information center, designed by jaime hayon image courtesy of the groninger museum

jaime hayon’s digital visitors’ information center extends the curves and bright finish of his ‘copa cabana’ light series to an entire space.

open and inviting, the new center is just one aspect of a museum initiative to increase the amount of information available to the public about the museum and its works.

closer view of the workspace, lit by ‘copa cabana’ fixtures image courtesy of the groninger museum

a round mirror hanging about the workspaces offers a view from above image courtesy of the groninger museum

detail view of hayon’s literature racks image courtesy of the groninger museum

left: new exterior of the mendini pavilion, desgined by alessandro mendini – image courtesy of alessandro mendini right: concept image for the tiles – image courtesy of the groninger museum

new tiles for the exterior of the mendini pavilion were designed by alessandro mendini himself, and created by dutch ceramic factory koninklijke tichelaar makkum. the design alludes to the patchwork of art, architecture, people, and culture that a museum represents.

process shot of maarten baas’s restoration of the mendini restaurant image courtesy of niels kim

in addition to the interior renovations, the museum renovations included repainting and exterior restorations, as well as a refinishing of the building’s well-known golden tower.