Atelier Kempe Thill

Atelier Kempe Thill won the competition for the new Maritime Museum located at the historical dry docks in the city of Antwerp, Belgium. The existing historical buildings were the starting point of the design. A strategically placed new building carefully connects the disparate historical elements, while respecting the existing spatial hierarchy of the site. The result is a new architectural ensemble with a surprising sequence of characteristic spaces. The centerpiece of the museum, both spatially and culturally, is the ship Doelse Kogge—a nearly 700-year-old historical cog of the Hanseatic League—which will be restored and presented in an impressive wooden exhibition hall in the middle of the museum.