Trees on the roof of Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen by MVRDV

New photographs reveal the installation of the first of 75 trees on the roof garden of Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen in Rotterdam. The first publicly accessible art depot in the world designed by MVRDV, that is nearing completion.

Over the next two weeks, 75 large birches will be hoisted 35 metres in the air using a special crane and planted on the roof of Rotterdam’s Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen. Here, the trees will become part of a green rooftop forest with a restaurant and spectacular views over the city.

The images show a future forest designed together with MTD landschapsarchitecten from Den Bosch.

Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen by MVRDV. Photograph by Arjen Ketting, MVRDV

The chosen tree is the Betula pubescens, a soft birch that grows to a maximum height of ten metres and is highly resistant to the weather conditions on the roof. The trees are between ten and fifteen years old and over the past three years the Ebben tree nursery has prepared them for their new location. A special watering system ensures that the soil in which they are being planted will never dry out.

Aftercare is provided by a specialised arborist who regularly monitors the trees for vitality, health, and moisture. How long the tree continues to live depends on various factors such as weather influences but it is expected that the vast majority of these strong pioneer trees – which need little to survive – will remain standing for several decades.

“When Yves Brunier designed the Museumpark with OMA, I helped with the selection of the old trees”, says MVRDV founding partner Winy Maas. “Now that the birches are being placed on the roof of the Depot, the circle is complete; we are taking the park we removed to the top of the Depot and enlarging it. Soon, people will be able to take the express lift up, free of charge, and enjoy a spectacular view of the city at a height of 34 metres.”

The bowl-shaped structure, designed by MVRDV, show that most of the curved mirror cladding is completed. Inside, it will serve as a public art depot for the Museum Boijmans van Beuningen. It is scheduled to open in 2021, but the building is on track to be completed later this year.

The Municipality of Rotterdam will soon start work on the greening of the area in the north of the Museumpark, both within the park and immediately outside its boundaries. The area will have natural stone paving with lots of planting areas and trees. In addition, the ponds and event deck outside Het Nieuwe Instituut will be redesigned.

Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen by MVRDV. Photograph by Fred Ernst

The chosen tree is the Betula pubescens, a soft birch that grows to a maximum height of ten metres and is highly resistant to the weather conditions on the roof. Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen by MVRDV. Photograph by Fred Ernst

Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen by MVRDV. Photograph by Winy Maas, MVRDV

Outside rendering. Public Art Depot Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen by MVRDV.

Inside rendering. Public Art Depot Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen by MVRDV.

Outside roof rendering. Public Art Depot Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen by MVRDV.

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More information

Winy Maas, Jacob van Rijs, Nathalie de Vries. MVRDV

MVRDV was founded in 1993 by Winy Maas, Jacob van Rijs and Nathalie de Vries in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The practice engages globally in providing solutions to contemporary architectural and urban issues. A highly collaborative, research-based design method involves clients, stakeholders and experts from a wide range of fields from early on in the creative process. The results are exemplary, outspoken projects, which enable our cities and landscapes to develop towards a better future.

The products of MVRDV’s unique approach to design vary, ranging from buildings of all types and sizes, to urban plans and visions, numerous publications, installations and exhibitions. Built projects include the Netherlands Pavilion for the World EXPO 2000 in Hannover; the Market Hall, a combination of housing and retail in Rotterdam; the Pushed Slab, a sustainable office building in Paris’ first eco-district; Flight Forum, an innovative business park in Eindhoven; the Silodam Housing complex in Amsterdam; the Matsudai Cultural Centre in Japan; the Unterföhring office campus near Munich; the Lloyd Hotel in Amsterdam; the Ypenburg housing and urban plan in The Hague; the Didden Village rooftop housing extension in Rotterdam; the music centre De Effenaar in Eindhoven; the Gyre boutique shopping center in Tokyo; a public library in Spijkenisse; an international bank headquarters in Oslo, Norway; and the iconic Mirador and Celosia housing in Madrid.

Current projects include a variety of housing projects in the Netherlands, France, China, India, and other countries; a community centre in Copenhagen and a cultural complex in Roskilde, Denmark, a public art depot in Rotterdam, the transformation of a mixed use building in central Paris, an office complex in Shanghai, and a commercial centre in Beijing, and the renovation of an office building in Hong Kong. MVRDV is also working on large scale urban masterplans in Bordeaux and Caen, France and the masterplan for an eco-city in Logroño, Spain. Larger scale visions for the future of greater Paris, greater Oslo, and the doubling in size of the Dutch new town Almere are also in development.

MVRDV first published a manifesto of its work and ideas in FARMAX (1998), followed by MetaCity/Datatown (1999), Costa Iberica (2000), Regionmaker (2002), 5 Minutes City (2003), KM3 (2005), Spacefighter (2007) and Skycar City (2007), and more recently The Vertical Village (with The Why Factory, 2012) and the firm’s first monograph of built works MVRDV Buildings (2013). MVRDV deals with issues ranging from global sustainability in large scale studies such as Pig City, to small, pragmatic architectural solutions for devastated areas such as New Orleans.

The work of MVRDV is exhibited and published worldwide and has received numerous international awards. One hundred architects, designers and urbanists develop projects in a multi-disciplinary, collaborative design process which involves rigorous technical and creative investigation. MVRDV works with BIM and has official in-house BREEAM and LEED assessors.

Together with Delft University of Technology, MVRDV runs The Why Factory, an independent think tank and research institute providing an agenda for architecture and urbanism by envisioning the city of the future.