Enlargement of Paleis Het Loo by Kaan Architects

The Museum Paleis Het Loo in Apeldoorn, Netherlands, has been renovated and enlarged. The extension below the forecourt of the former royal palace references its Baroque symmetry.

The extension by Dikkie Scipio and Kaan Architects took a total of five years to implement, whereby the brief was to create room for permanent and temporary exhibitions as well as visitor facilities on 5000 m² of space. The entrances to the museum are now located in the palace's west and east wings, where two pavilion-type buildings were hollowed out to create new lantern-like entry points. From here sculptural staircases clad in white Blanco Macael marble lead down to the cloakrooms and the Grand Foyer in the underground extension. 

The Grand Foyer – an access passage also surfaced in white marble – leads off at its sides to rooms for temporary exhibitions; further staircases rise to the east and west wings, which have been extensively renovated to accommodate new exhibition areas. The east wing now focuses on the Dutch royal family, while a children's museum is contained in the west wing. 

Finely executed transitions 

At the north end of the Grand Foyer a staircase leads up to the central wing of the palace, with white plastered vaulted ceilings picked out in brownish-red brick marking the transition from the extension to the existing building. Side windows provide views onto the brick facade of Paleis Het Loo, creating an additional visual link.  

Staircase, © Simon Menges

White plastered vaulted ceilings bordered with brownish-red brick mark the transition between the extension and the existing building. © Simon Menges

The Grand Foyer is provided an eye-catcher in the middle in the form of a glass roof set directly below a 4 m deep pond whose oval geometry it evokes, with the resulting transparency creating a connection between the underground extension and forecourt above. The reflections of light in the interior are additionally underscored by alternating areas of sand-blasted, honed and polished marble on the floor and walls.  

A compass rose set into the marble floor marks the center of the large foyer. © Simon Menges

Subtle ornamentation 

Despite the high degree of abstraction in the rooms, the architects did not renounce all ornamentation: a compass rose let into the marble floor marks the centre of the Grand Foyer and points in the directions of the exhibitions. And large doors of American walnut are provided a repetitive wood pattern composed of abstract orange blossom leaves, thus referencing yet again the symmetry of the Baroque garden above.