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The Mout Venlo cafe and food hall in The Netherlands. All photos by Melanie Samat, courtesy of Buro Moon.
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Project: Mout Venlo
Location: Venlo, The Netherlands
Size (gross area built): 1,600 square meters (17,222 square feet)
Opened: 2022
Architecture Firm: Buro Moon
Architecture Firm Location: Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Lead Architect: Moon Brader
Photographer: Melanie Samat
The building housing the museum van Bommel van Dam in Venlo, The Netherlands, was vacated in 2017 for not meeting contemporary museum standards.
Through the vision of Rotterdam-based firm Buro Moon, the building has recently been transformed from an inward enclosure to an inviting park pavilion that embraces the surrounding city park landscape.
This transformation was achieved through a new glass addition that marks the entrance to the pavilion while also housing the central cafe space by the new name Mout Venlo.
“Connecting the interior spaces and the park outside was central to the design,” Buna Moon said in a statement shared with DCN. “Added openings in the facade offer a smooth transition between inside and outside. While the design of the surrounding terraces fits the green character and the organic lines of the park.”
Borders between the building and the park are softened by massive Catalpa trees, which further connect the park to the indoor cafe experience.
According to Buro Moon, the new structural volume is reminiscent of the “Venlo-Kas” style of greenhouse, which became popular locally after World War II before spreading to become one of the most popular greenhouse building forms in the world.
“The moss-grey finish of the aluminum profiles on the outside blends in with the colors of the park,” the firm stated. “In contrast to the exterior the interior is left pure, rough and uncolored. Therefore, the galvanized steel construction and unfinished aluminum profiles are fit for re-use and recycling at the end of their life cycle.”
In addition to the cafe at the heart of the pavilion, the facility now includes a brewery and food hall. Buro Moon said the intention was to give the historic and culturally significant building a “new lease on life.”
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