Depot voted audience favorite Architizer A+ Awards

Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen, designed by MVRDV, has been voted as a Popular Choice winner in the 2022 Architizer A+ Awards, with the public selecting it as the best project in the Gallery and Exhibition Spaces category. The award counted thousands of votes submitted by Architizer readers from May 17–27, with the depot emerging as the popular choice among five finalists.

Run of prizes

The selection of the depot continues a run of prizes for the building, following the project’s success in – among others – the “stimulating environments” category of the BNA’s Building of the Year awards, de Architect’s ARC21 Award, and Architectenweb’s Best Public Building of the Year award. Last month the Depot App also won a prize, with both a renowned Webby Award, also known as the Oscars of the internet, and silver in the Dutch Interactive Awards. In addition, the depot is a finalist for the Rotterdam Architecture Prize, the results of which will be announced later this month.

Depot design

MVRDV's ambition was to design a public depot that is as inviting as possible in which visitors feel welcome. An accessible building with five climate zones that transparently shows how the collection is maintained, while at the same time leaving the entrance hall of the Museum Park intact as much as possible and entering into a new relationship with it. A round shape has been chosen so that the depot is equally inviting on all sides. This building has no back. The depot owes its constricted shape to its relatively small footprint (40 metres). As a result, the building projects upwards and has an overhang of 10 meters to accommodate the entire program. The diameter of the roof is 60 meters. The reflective facade, consisting of 6,609 m2 of glass divided over 1,664 panels, ensures that the building visually blends into its surroundings. Every day – depending on weather conditions – the depot looks different, like in a living painting. The birches, grasses and pines placed on the award-winning roof help to retain water, promote biodiversity and reduce heat stress in the city. The trees for this project were prepared for their new home in a nursery for three years. Their roots are interconnected, which allows them to withstand stormy weather even at a height of 35 meters.

About Architizer

Architizer is an architecture platform to which 335,000 architects are affiliated. Their mission is to provide architects with information to build better buildings, better cities, and a better world. The full list of Architizer A+ Award winners can be viewed here.