Rénovation du bâtiment principal du Kunstmuseum, Bâle, Suisse

The main building of the Kunstmuseum Basel, designed by Rudolf Christ and Paul Bonatz, was inaugurated in 1936 and is one of the most important examples of its kind in the first half of the 20th century. To ensure that the main building retains its value, the building envelope, interior fittings and technical infrastructure must be renovated in close coordination with the conservation authorities. At the same time, the first floor must be optimized with the help of a spatial reorganization.
In 2021, the consortium GP KMS Christ & Gantenbein - Rapp won the design competition held in preparation for the renovation. Their design is the basis for further planning.
The main building of the Kunstmuseum will house the collection presentations of works from the 15th to 20th centuries as well as temporary exhibitions and presentations by the Kupferstichkabinett. In addition to the collections and exhibitions, there will be education and communication programs, event spaces in the form of several event halls, the museum store and the Bistro Kunstmuseum. In addition to the entrance area, the first floor also houses visitor services such as ticketing, information desk, restrooms and coat check.
The workrooms of the Museum of Prints and Drawings, including the paper restoration and study room, are located on the mezzanine floor K_EZ1 on the west side. On the same floor on the east side, there are mainly restoration studios and rooms for photography. The collections are presented in the individual exhibition rooms on the two full storeys above, K_O1 and K_O2. The rear areas such as the security lodge, delivery, technical rooms, workshops and storage are located in the basement.
Details of the indoor climate and energy requirements for the museum were worked out and summarized by the planning team together with the client with the help of a usage agreement. To achieve the project goals, a holistic, innovative energy concept and room-specific indoor climate concepts for the individual uses of the renovated main building had to be developed as part of the preliminary project.
One of the main considerations is that the refurbishment of the main building must reduce operational Carbon emissions by approximately 25% and the final energy consumption of the building by approximately 30%.
The use of waste water thermal energy and reversibly connected cooling/heating machines must enable the use of waste heat and increased free cooling with very high system efficiencies.
Sensitive and latent room conditioning must be separated from each other. Sensitive room conditioning is decentralized. Humidity control is achieved via the central fresh air. The fresh air rates are regulated according to humidity and occupant requirements. The careful insulation of the envelope and glass surfaces, which takes account of the historic building status, improves thermal insulation in winter and summer.
Forgoing recooling units on the roof allows the installation of PV modules. These conceptual approaches are to be validated as part of the construction project with the help of dynamic-thermal annual simulations.