Designwolf was commissioned to play a major role in the renewal of Museon’s customer journey. From arrival and parking to visiting the exhibitions, measures were taken to update the museum. Once visitors enter through the new revolving doors of the main entrance, they find themselves in the foyer. This foyer was designed to be like a departures hall of an airport. Visitors can wait here, have something to eat or drink, and continue into the rest of the museum.

The Museon building is an entity difficult to ignore. As such, there’s no point fighting it. The entire building is built on a grid of squares 1.1 m x 1.1 m. These dimensions are also used in the interior design. However, one of Museon’s most important requirements was to find ways to create a warmer atmosphere.

New furniture in the foyer creates a feeling reminiscent of an airport. Greenery in large pots, hanging moss ceilings, a huge carpet and new lighting create a warmer and more pleasant atmosphere. The illuminated blue line which runs through the exhibition on the first floor already starts in the foyer. Visitors can follow this blue line into the museum, past the ticket counter and cloakroom. 

A graphic layer starts in the foyer and goes along the ground floor, ending in the cloak room. The layer introduces the museum with photos of the Earth on the glass. The photos are semi-transparent so that they don’t affect the connecting architecture between Museon and the Gemeentemuseum Den Haag. The photographs were taken from high above the Earth. As you continue to walk, the images zoom further in. Finally, we end with microscopic images, but always with human beings as the main subject.

The two old security and ticket counters have merged into one new reception desk. This takes a more central position in the space. The location was specifically chosen so visitor queues would not disrupt logistics for the rest of the museum. The desk has two ticket-purchasing areas and a place for a guard.

Our approach for the renewed cloakroom was to reuse the coatracks. A shortage of places for people to hang their coats was resolved by placing an extra row of coat-hooks at children’s height. This effectively doubled capacity. In addition, there are now more than double the number of lockers.

All materials were chosen according to one design language. This way, visitors can recognise the various functions of the museum in addition to the exhibitions.

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