Laecken Halle, meaning ‘cloth hall’ served as the inspection hall for the famous Leiden cloth until 1869, when it became the city museum. Over the years, the grade A listed (equivalent to grade I) three-storey Classical building together with its two front and two rear wings, has been extended, compromising its layout and creating complexity and contradiction.

Julian Harrap Architects, with Rotterdam practice, Happel Cornelisse Verhoeven, won a competition in 2013 to resolve this imbalance and recast the museum for the 21^st century. The ambitious project has meticulously restored the Museum De Lakenhal and a new extension builds on the complex of buildings.

The new wing provides space for temporary exhibitions, whilst the permanent collection of art and crafts is housed in the restored Lakenhal. In the latter collection, the story of Leiden and its cloth industry from the 16^th century onwards is told. The entrance, forecourt, vestibule and display rooms have been re-worked and a new internal courtyard, the Achterplaets, has been created to orientate the visitor, giving a legible and seamless transition from the old Cloth Hall to the later extensions and the new gallery extension.

The external front forecourt has been reinstated following the removal of a temporary glazed canopy installed in 1992, and establishing once again, Lakenhal’s principal historic façade. A modest new building to the side houses the café whilst the new internal Achterplaets courtyard enables the rear elevation of the Lakenhal to be celebrated, providing a light, spacious heart to the Museum.