The Museum Kaap Skil on Texel Island, transports visitors to the village of Oudeschild in the Golden Age. Dutch traditions such as the reuse of washed-up objects inspired the design of this modest but striking museum building.
The facade is composed of sawn hardwood sheet piling reclaimed from the Noord-Hollands Canal, with a characteristic roof of four peaks that echoes the rhythm of the surrounding rooftops of Oudeschild village. Visitors enter on the ground floor, where the museum café is also located.
Comprising an outer screen of vertical slats with a layer of glass behind, the textured facade provides views of the famous Dutch sky while creating a rhythmic play of shadow and light inside.
This is particularly clear on the first floor, which houses the underwater archaeology exhibits and beachcomber collection with artefacts displayed in mobile vitrines made from sturdy steel frames and glass.
The sense of light and space heightens the contrast between the openness of the first floor and the more enclosed basement with its lower ceiling.
The pièce de résistance of the museum is located here: an eighteen-metre-long and four-metre-wide model called the Reede van Texel. Projections and atmospheric lighting guide visitors through the exhibition on this floor.