THE RUHR MUSEUM IN ZECHE ZOLLVEREIN BY OMA

Reuse of Hernesaaren grainary - 2021

Haipeng Wang;
Yuanrong Guo
Zeche Zollverein

The former coal mine Zeche Zollverein in Essen, an area of 100

hectares, was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in
2001.

OMA was commissioned to develop a masterplan, The plan was

to encourage the revival of the area through a new program, a
combination of business, education and information, art and
design, which, along with an improvement and expansion of
public space, would become a cultural center of reference.

Today Zollverein has developed and changed from being a

private and industrial place to being a public space, with 1.5
million visitors a year, Among its facilities you can find the Ruhr
Museum, the Red Dot Design Museum and the School of
Management and Design.
Zeche Zollverein

The former coal mine Zeche Zollverein in Essen, an area of 100

hectares, was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in
2001.

OMA was commissioned to develop a masterplan, The plan was

to encourage the revival of the area through a new program, a
combination of business, education and information, art and
design, which, along with an improvement and expansion of
public space, would become a cultural center of reference.

Today Zollverein has developed and changed from being a

private and industrial place to being a public space, with 1.5
million visitors a year, Among its facilities you can find the Ruhr
Museum, the Red Dot Design Museum and the School of
The red dot design museum by Foster +Partners Management and Design.
Zeche Zollverein

The former coal mine Zeche Zollverein in Essen, an area of 100

hectares, was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in
2001.

OMA was commissioned to develop a masterplan, The plan was

to encourage the revival of the area through a new program, a
combination of business, education and information, art and
design, which, along with an improvement and expansion of
public space, would become a cultural center of reference.

Today Zollverein has developed and changed from being a

private and industrial place to being a public space, with 1.5
million visitors a year, Among its facilities you can find the Ruhr
Museum, the Red Dot Design Museum and the School of
The Zollverein School of Management and Design by SANNA Management and Design.
The Ruhr Museum

LOCATION: Essen, Germany

CLIENTS: Ministry for Culture,Sports and Housing of

Nordrhein-Westfalen, Development Company Zeche Zollverein

Architect: OMA, Heinrich Böll Architekt BDA DWB

YEAR: 2001-2007

The project Ruhr.Visitorcenter and Ruhr Museum is the

incorporation of a transformation from a coal washery which
used to transport, wash and sort 12,000 tonnes of hard coal daily
into a public building offering today 12,000 square meters to
visitors.
The Ruhr Museum

LOCATION: Essen, Germany

CLIENTS: Ministry for Culture,Sports and Housing of

Nordrhein-Westfalen, Development Company Zeche Zollverein

Architect: OMA, Heinrich Böll Architekt BDA DWB

YEAR: 2001-2007

The project Ruhr.Visitorcenter and Ruhr Museum is the

incorporation of a transformation from a coal washery which
used to transport, wash and sort 12,000 tonnes of hard coal daily
into a public building offering today 12,000 square metres to
visitors.
Strategy

➔ The project insert a new program while respecting as

much as possible the essence of the historical building.
➔ People would access to the inside through a giant 60
metres outdoor escalator going up to 24 meters, the
movement from top to bottom has been kept, similar to
the flow of the original factory production, sorting the
coal from the top of the building to the bottom
Strategy

(Entrance)

(Exhibition)

(Storage, Workshops)

➔ Complementing the visitor centre, the regional museum continues in the floors below from top to bottom, from the present to the
historic.
➔ The lower levels, where coal was stored before, are reserved for exhibits and storage of the Ruhr Museum.
➔ Transform the existing industrial process logic into a spatial narrative.
Strategy

(Entrance)

(Exhibition)

(Storage, Workshops)

➔ Complementing the visitor centre, the exhibition area continues in the floors below from top to bottom, from the “presen”t to the
“historic”.
➔ The lower levels, where coal was stored before, are reserved for exhibits and storage of the Ruhr Museum.
➔ Transform the existing industrial process logic into a spatial narrative.
Entrance

Another more obviously formless supplement is the light installation by Jonathan Speirs and Mark Major, which at night simulates the
former heat glow of the defunct coking plant furnaces. Simultaneously, the lighting isolates the coking plant from its context，calling
attention to the old building and nudging the visitor to perceive it as culturally significant.
Functions

Ruhr Museum(permanent exhibition)

Ruhr Museum(temporary exhibition)

Visitor centre

Ruhr Museum(permanent exhibition)

Machines

Stairs and elevators

Circulation, technicrooms,WC

Storage,Garderobe
Transportation

The fantastic stairs create the feeling of experiencing time travel.

The public stairway was designed in the old elevator place. So in the
middle of the stairway, you can see the unused elevator shaft.
Level 24m This design did change original structure system a lot, so the concept of exhibition could be arranged according to different forms of original structure

PRESESNT
Level 17m

PRESESNT
Level 12m

Memory
Level 6m

History
About machinery

All the machinery remains in its original condition, in order to raise awareness of industrial culture, the history of the Ruhr and the
transformation that the area has suffered over the years.
Other photos

Interior view Interior view

Other photos

The public stairway Rooftop view

Conclusion

This project is a transformation from a coal washery to a museum and visitor centre
without removing the existing machines that dominate the building. The result is
an industrial monument that combines modern use with historic context and a
focal point of activity in constant motion with over a million and a half visitors each
year.