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Museum MORE

Designed to host the Netherlands’ biggest collection of modern realist art, the extension of the former Gorssel’s town hall conceived by Hans van Heeswijk Architects features natural materials to create a clear layout and a surprisingly light and airy space.

New Museum MORE, designed by Hans van Heeswijk Architects to showcase the Netherlands’ biggest collection of modern realist art, opened on June 2015 as an extension of Gorssel’s former town hall.

In 2012, Hans Melchers, the initiator of Museum MORE, decided to display his collection of modern Dutch realist art (acquired following the demise of DS Art BV) in the Achterhoek, a region in the east of the Netherlands bordering Germany. His eye soon fell on the former town hall of Gorssel (available thanks to a municipal merger with Lochem). Hans van Heeswijk Architects was recruited to design a lobby and seven spacious exhibition halls for the new museum. As the building progressed, the collection expanded thanks to the acquisition of additional works by Arnout Killian, Carel Willink and others.

<b>Top and above</b>: Hans van Heeswijk Architects, Museum MORE, Gorssel, Netherlands. Photo Imre Csan — **Top and above**: Hans van Heeswijk Architects, Museum MORE, Gorssel, Netherlands. Photo Imre Csan

The historic part of the building, dating from 1914, has been renovated to become a museum café and event hall. The new museum structure is characterised by strategic sightlines that make the most of the park-like setting, blending inside and outside in a seamless whole. Besides exhibiting parts of the permanent collection, the building also offers space for exhibitions, administrative offices and a restoration workshop.

The museum has an inviting appearance, clear layout and a surprisingly light, airy quality of space. In it, Van Heeswijk repeats his distinctive use of natural materials like stone, glass and steel.