The Heritage Department of the Municipality of Utrecht used to be spread across several locations. Since the move, all 38 colleagues now share one space—and not just any space: a beautiful building on the Plompetorengracht. For the fit-out of their new home they brought in Ahrend Nederland, who in turn engaged SDB Vitrinebouw for our display-case expertise.
A display wall in the entrance hall, a display cabinet in the lunch and meeting room, and a fully transparent partition wall in the workspace of the Archaeological Fieldwork team—that was the brief we received via Ahrend from Erfgoed Utrecht. Archaeologist Herre Wynia and 3D visualizer Daan Claessen explain.
Daan’s 3D work
“There was a municipal project team overseeing the relocation,” Herre begins. “We weren’t part of it, but of course we were involved in the interior design. Daan, for example, created a design for the display cases. His experience in reconstructing Utrecht’s heritage in 3D really came in handy. He immediately took things like the slanted corridor wall and various offsets into account. As a result, the display fits the space perfectly.”
“That also applies to the cabinet in the lunch room,” Daan continues. “It connects seamlessly up to the ceiling, while an existing beam runs through it. It’s truly bespoke. The distinctive feature of the transparent wall in the workspace is the small LED spotlights. We can aim them precisely at the archaeological finds. That’s ideal, because the cabinet is completely open. This way we can illuminate the objects from all sides without shining light into anyone’s eyes.”
A well-oiled machine
“Before production started, SDB came back to take final measurements,” Daan says about the next phase. “That proved to be a smart move, because they discovered we needed to account for a radiator in the lunch room. Without that discovery we would have had to place the cabinet about twenty centimeters forward. Thanks to the on-site check we could tackle a few last points.”
“All the objects are showcased perfectly: raised on plinths and with beautiful lighting.”
Herre continues: “The installation was impressive. They arrived with trucks full of materials and in no time the display cases were standing. Fast and flawless. It was obvious everyone knew exactly what to do. Truly a well-oiled machine.”
13,000 years of Utrecht history
“People who come to meet with us now are invariably late,” Daan says with a smile. “They linger at the display in the entrance. Here we present 13,000 years of Utrecht’s history. The case is arranged horizontally as a timeline—from prehistory to the modern era. Vertically, visitors can see objects per period across different categories such as daily life, defense, religion, and construction. On the top shelf we showcase the highlights: Utrecht icons.”
“From a beautiful bowl from the Roman period and part of a medieval ship to the city’s oldest potsherd and an idol from prehistory—carved wood with a recognizable human face,” Herre adds. “The whole thing turned out fantastically. Thanks also to Daan’s work designing the back panel and labels. His designs make it even more engaging. In the lunch-room cabinet we plan to exhibit top finds by material category, such as wood, leather, and stone. We’ll also add small viewing boxes.”
‘How awesome is this’
“We can now tell Utrecht’s story even more compellingly,” Herre concludes. “Every object comes into its own: on a plinth and with beautiful light. And the case design is refined while giving us flexible layouts. We can keep iterating on that. We’re incredibly proud of the result. Every time we switch on the lights, we think: how awesome is it that we can show this here. Best of all, I sense that same pride at SDB. Working together was an absolute pleasure!”
