The Royal Delft factory’s artistic legacy is embedded within its own walls. To highlight the building’s beautiful ceramic details, we place the museum’s collection in harmony with these architectural details. Royal Delft’s unique collection of building ceramics and tile tableaux includes replicas of pieces from the Peace Palace, ceramic wall coverings from the former Rotterdam post office, ceilings from the Beurs van Berlage and ceramic finishes from the Steenkolen Handels Vereninging building in Rotterdam. This collection dates to Royal Delft’s intensive collaboration with architects such as H.P. Berlage, Jos Cuypers, and well-known artists such as Jaap Gidding, Lion Cachet and Jan Toorop
A RENEWED FACTORY MUSEUM
Royal Delft Museum
Founded in 1653, the Koninklijke Porceleyne Fles (Royal Delft) officially became a museum in 2021. Though this sole remaining original factory for Delftware welcomed more than 140,000 visitors each year, much had to be done to bring the factory museum up to a high and contemporary standard. Accessibility, routing, signposting and lighting were in dire need of revision after a series of renovations produced a confusing labyrinth. In cooperation with the architectural firm Braaksma & Roos, we modernised Royal Delft’s visitor experience.
- Location
- Delft (NL)
- Client
- Royal Delft Group
- Year
- 2022
Project data
- 1653the Koninklijke Porceleyne Fles was founded
- 1800 m2Factory
- 420 m2new spaces
- 140.000Visitors each year
To bring the factory and its history to life, we made the building’s hidden qualities visible again.
Exposing quality
Three-part collage
A museum within a museum
Royal Delft’s key request was to create a museum hall with high-quality museum conditions so it could host temporary exhibitions and loan objects from third parties. These exhibition rooms were already embedded in the heart of the building complex, so to speak. By converting two superimposed storage rooms, we created two new exhibition spaces: a room on the ground floor illuminated with artificial light and another room above it where daylight pours through the factory’s glass roof. A lockable void allows the halls to be used separately or together.
Three-part collage
A place of their own
Hand-painted ceramics are the origin of Royal Delft’s history and success. Previously, Royal Delft’s painters could only display their painting expertise through the static ceramics on display. Now, visitors can witness the painters in action in their new workshop. Accessible to visitors, this workshop is in the centre of the factory, underscoring their importance at Royal Delft.
