Fondation Beyeler | Architekturbüro Peter Zumthor

Fondation Beyeler’s expanded ensemble

Over the past 30 years, Fondation Beyeler has become one of the most popular museums in Switzerland. To ensure that it continues to meet the future needs of both the art it houses and its visitors, the museum is undertaking an expansion. The Fondation Beyeler is expanding both spatially and conceptually, further enhancing the unique relationship between art, nature and architecture, for which it is internationally renowned.

The resulting ensemble brings together the existing museum building by Renzo Piano with new structures designed by Peter Zumthor, including a museum building for art, a pavilion for cultural events and a building for logistics. The ensemble also includes carefully restored 18th-century historic buildings that are given new purposes: art education studios, a music salon, a greenhouse and a small project space housed in a folly. Opening a previously private park to visitors will almost double the Fondation Beyeler’s parkland and enrich it with towering centuries-old trees, ponds and meadows.

The museum of the twenty-first century is not only a place for the preservation and exhibition of objects, but also a social space where people can meet, connect, share ideas and relax. Cultural events and art education have become central features of visitor-oriented museums. Alongside its active exhibition programme, the Fondation Beyeler also has a steadily growing, outstanding collection of modern and contemporary art, along with gifts and long-term loans, which will now be presented on a more permanent basis in a new museum building.

The international jury unanimously selected Atelier Peter Zumthor’s design following a study competition involving eleven architecture practices from around the world: rather than a large complex, Peter Zumthor proposed three smaller buildings with different functions and material qualities that are sensitively embedded in the historical park setting.

The extended park

The previously private park will be opened to the public, almost doubling Fondation Beyeler’s parkland while also creating direct access to the adjacent nature reserve. The historical park was created around 1830 as an English landscape garden and has largely retained its original character to this day. Like the existing park, the newly added one was originally also designed by landscape architect and garden designer Jean-François Caillat, who at the time was renowned for his sensitive approach to landscape design. With its majestic trees, which are around 200 years old, it is one of the region’s most authentic historic parks and is heritage-listed. The existing artworks in the park will be complemented by new outdoor works, deepening the dialogue between art, landscape and nature.

Wyss Museum

Atelier Peter Zumthor’s three-storey museum building will offer 1500 square metres of exhibition space across three floors. The monolithic form of the building responds to the historic trees in its surroundings, allowing it to sit sensitively within the landscape. Large-format windows frame carefully composed views from the exhibition galleries into the surrounding landscape, creating a close connection between the interior and the natural environment outside. The concept for the new museum building is founded on the use of locally sourced Jura limestone. This stone is used in the building in various forms: as solid natural stone for benches and staircases, as the main component of the rammed façade, as terrazzo flooring and as refined plaster on the surfaces of the walls. In the future, both the existing Beyeler Museum and the Wyss Museum will present works from the renowned collection alongside major loans from closely associated private collections. The new museum building will also serve as a venue for exhibition projects.

Ammann Pavilion

The ground-level pavilion designed by Atelier Peter Zumthor expands the Fondation Beyeler’s ensemble, adding a versatile venue for cultural events and social gatherings. The building is set harmoniously against the existing boundary wall and thus preserves as much of the parkland as possible. An expansive glass façade opens the interior onto the park and offers panoramic views. The Ammann pavilion can accommodate around 200 to 300 people. Inside, carefully coordinated materials ensure good acoustics. During the day, the pavilion serves as a quiet space for reading, passing time and encounters. When cultural events are held, it transforms into a vibrant venue for a varied programme of concerts, artist talks, film screenings and performances.

Torhaus

The Torhaus, also designed by Atelier Peter Zumthor, serves as a gateway between the civic space and the ensemble of the Fondation Beyeler. Art shipments are received on the ground floor and prepared for exhibitions on the lower level, while the three upper floors contain workspaces. The Torhaus is connected underground to the new museum building. Its façade is constructed using a simple timber-frame system, echoing the region’s agricultural buildings. With its stained oak finish, it blends organically into its surroundings.

Studios and salon

Two art education studios for workshops and school programmes, along with an intimate music salon, are being created as part of a renovation and conversion project by local architect Magnus Forsberg and interior designer Antonia Rossi. The salon offers a space for record-playing sessions for artists, musicians and music lovers. Inspired by Piet Mondrian’s New York studio, where he played his favourite jazz albums to guests, and by Japanese kissa bars, the salon creates a format that brings together art and music in a distinctive way.

Orangerie

The former orangery will be given a new botanical concept that deliberately references its original function as a greenhouse. As part of the redesign by Paris-based architect and designer India Mahdavi, it will once again become a greenhouse, as well as a plant-themed concept store with a particular focus on the art of gardening.

Folly

The folly is the smallest and most self-contained exhibition space in the entire ensemble. Its columnar architecture recalls the classical form of a miniature temple of the Muses. This ambiguity gives rise to an experimental exhibition area that opens onto the public sphere and offers artists the greatest possible freedom within the smallest possible space.

Financing

The new buildings of the Fondation Beyeler are made possible primarily through the Wyss Foundation by Hansjörg Wyss and the Beyeler-Stiftung. The Thomas and Doris Ammann Foundation, the Daros Collection as well as Dr. Christoph M. Müller und Sibylla M. Müller have also generously supported the expansion. A significant contribution is likewise made by the Ernst Göhner Foundation and the Don Quixote Foundation, as well as by additional private donors. The expanded ensemble of the Fondation Beyeler is privately financed. The municipality of Riehen contributes to the financing of infrastructure in public spaces as well as to the maintenance of the public gardens.

FACTS AND FIGURES

Project organisation for new buildings

Owner and client: Fondation Beyeler, Basel
Architect: Atelier Peter Zumthor, Haldenstein
Landscape architect: Vogt Landschaftsarchitekten, Zurich
Overall project management/construction management: Rapp Architekten, Münchenstein

Specialist planners for new buildings

Structural engineering: Schnetzer Puskas Ingenieure, Basel
HVAC-R: Waldhauser + Hermann, Münchenstein
Plumbing engineering: Probst + Wieland, Burgdorf
Electrical engineering: PZM, Lucerne
Timber engineering: Lauber Ingenieure, Lucerne
Landscape architecture: Vogt Landschaftsarchitekten, Zurich
Cooling engineering: Refcon, Glattbrugg
Building physics: BWS Bauphysik, Winterthur
Foodservice planning: planbar, Zurich
Lighting design: Matì Lichtgestaltung, Adliswil
Daylight design: Institut für Tageslichttechnik, Stuttgart
Security planning: HKG Consulting, Aarau
Fire safety planning: HKG Consulting, Aarau
Utility planning: Rapp, Basel
Acoustics: Müller-BBM, Planegg
Flood protection: Gruner, Oberwil
Event technology: WSDG, Basel

Project organisation for renovation project

Studios and Salon

Owner: Gemeinde Riehen
Client: Beyeler Museum AG, Basel
Architect: Forsberg Architekten, Basel
Interior design: Interiorirossi, Basel
Project management/construction management: Plan Philippe, Münchenstein
Lighting design: Lichterloh, Münchenstein and Matì Lichtgestaltung, Adliswil
Structural engineering: Rapp, Basel
Building physics: Ehrsam Bauphysik, Pratteln

Orangerie

Owner: Gemeinde Riehen
Client: Beyeler Museum AG, Basel
Interior design: India Mahdavi, Paris
Project management/construction management: Gabriel Heusser, Basel
Lighting design: Isometrix Lighting Design, London

Timeline

Study assignment: 2016
Project presentation: 2017
Preliminary planning application: 2019
Planning application: 2020
Building permit: 2021
Start of construction: 2022
Completion: 2026
Handover: 2026
Phased opening: Autumn 2026
Full opening: January 2027

Costs

Land acquisition, construction and operation for the first ten years: CHF 120 million