b'Construction briefingGeneralArt depots are usually anonymous storage facilities, located in edge-of-town business parks and inaccessible to the general public. But not in this case. The new art depot of Rotterdams Boijmans museum is an eye-catching, highly instagrammable building, placed next to the museum it serves and open to visitors. Designed by the idiosyncratic Dutch architecture firm MVRDV, it is a mirrored bowl-shaped building that features seven storage floors and is topped by a roof garden and a restaurant. The brief for the project was substantial: a 112 page-thick document, filled with both text and a series of detailed spreadsheets with specifications for indoor climate, safety and security, and accessibility.Strategic Functional TechnicalAs the brief explained, theThe brief asked for 10,774Not surprisingly, around half projects first and foremostsquare metres of usable floorof briefs 112 pages concerned objective was to solve thearea. Around half of this wastechnical requirements. A museums storage problems.depot space for the storage ofwhole chapter was dedicated When the brief was written,artefacts, divided into discreteto the topic of security with the museums 151,000-plussections for different typesrequirements relating to zoning artefacts were spread acrossof artefacts. The other half(distinguishing between public seven different storage facilities,was earmarked for the manyand non-public zones), access including the museums flood- support functions that aresystems and CCTV systems, prone basement. According tonecessary for such a building.and the facades resistance the brief, the storage situationFor example, a sizeable handlingclassthe latter being a was perilous and not meetingarea connected to a dockingmeasure of how many minutes contemporary norms andspace with room for two trucks,it would take a burglar to break requirements. The museumwith a temporary storage space,into the building using a specific was thus looking for a solutiona space where art items cantoolset. And then there were to a practical problem. Yet theacclimatize, and a space wheremany detailed requirements brief also stated that it shoulditems can be packed, unpackedconcerning the climatic not be a standard storageand registered by the depotsconditions per space. Light, solution. The idea was to offerstaff. The buildings visitorhumidity, temperature level, visitors a behind the scenesspaces comprised a separateand the cleanness of the air are glimpse of what happens invisitor entrance, a cloakroom,all crucial aspects when storing an art depot. The brief alsoa gift shop and a restaurant andfragile art artefacts. As the brief stated that the buildingsgarden on the buildings roof.explained, different artefacts architectural expression shouldThe brief stated that, in terms ofdemand different conditions be spectacular, imposingsquare metres, only 20% of the(e.g. colour photographs need to and an icon that attractsbuilding should be accessible forbe stored at a lower temperature attention from afar. Metaphorsvisitors, but that it should feelthan black-and-white prints) used in the brief included alike 40%. which is why the brief asked for beehive, Scrooge McDucksfive different climate zones, treasure warehouse, and Willyeach with their own set of indoor Wonkas Chocolate Factory.climate requirements. Quite apt when you look at the end product. 209'