By untying the ribbon Tuesday afternoon the 29th of March, councilor Huib van Olden and representative Henri Swinkels officially opened the boarding area Binnendieze in the Museum quarter, a joint initiative of the municipality of ‘s-Hertogenbosch and the Province of Noord-Brabant. The opening provides the exhibition of Jeroen Bosch with extra allure and forms the crown on top of the revitalization and realization scheme of the museum quarter, an extensive project that originally consisted of the expansion of the NoordBrabants Museum, the newly built premises for the Stedelijk Museum (SM’S) en the refurbishment of inner squares and courtyards. With the realization of these plans the ambition arose to form a stronger connection to the city’s water network. MTD received in early 2014 the assignment to design a boarding area for the museum quarter, situated at the Binnendieze as a continuation of the design for the entrance square, courtyards and surrounding area’s undertaken in cooperation with Bierman Henket Architecten.
As can be seen on a historical map dating from 1629 of the Jesuit monastery, that was once situated here, the Binnendieze crossed the Waterstraat and the front square as an open waterway with stairs in a transversal direction to the street level. The new design reinterprets this historical situation in a contemporary way.
The garage that was built over the water in this location has been demolished and the Binnendieze has been dug out again. During the construction works, the original arches of the Loefse Brug in the Waterstraat and the arch over the Binendieze underneath the Museumplein where found intact in their original state, together with the side of the stairs to the Waterstraat. The design provides a wooden boat dock. From this dock a natural stone staircase leads to the level of the Waterstraat. Here a little square has been positioned over the Binnendieze that, by a white gate, provides access to the entrance square of the NoordBrabants Museum. This gate was already present on the side of the entrance square and with its white counterpart on the Waterstraat side it has been put into use as a fully functioning gateway once again. The same has happened to the facades that where uncovered after the demolition of the garage.
On the little square over the Binnendieze a long natural stone bench has been positioned, just like in the courtyards of the Museum quarter. In front of the bench an engraved natural stone slab shows the historical map of 1629. Hereby the historical layering and continuity of the biography of the location are healed and made experienceable.
By the water a multi-stemmed alder provides the desired scale and shelter and strengthens the connection to the water.
With the boarding area the Museum quarter gains a renewed and strong anchoring to the public area and more specifically the network of waterways of the historical city center of ’s-Hertogenbosch.
