Polare Maastrict Case Study

Polare Maastricht

✗ Address: Dominicanerkerkstraat
1,Maastricht, Netherlands
✗ Investor: Boekhandels Groep Nederland
✗ Realization:2007
✗ Area:1200 m2
✗ Located in a Medieval Dominican church
✗ Polare Maastricht was voted the most
beautiful bookstore in the world in 2008
by the British newspaper The Guardian.

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 History
•The religious building was closed when French
troops invaded the country.

•The church, fortunately, did not fall into ruin

despite being abandoned for more than 200 years.

•It served many purposes, including a bicycle

warehouse until it was restored in 2006 for its
current use as a magnificent bookstore.

•The Dutch architectural firm MERKX + GIROD was

commissioned to renovate the old church. The
resulting structure earned them the 2007 Lensvelt
Award for Interior Architecture.

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Layout
Ground
Floor Plan

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•The restoration work - amalgamation of
opposite aesthetics through the
preservation of the structure’s original
elements, infused with the minimalist
style of the interior design.

•There is a café located in the Apse,

where customers can read a magazine or
the daily newspapers, while the lists of
new arrivals are announced by signs
hanging from the tall stone columns.

•One of the most successful decorative

elements is the lighting, which resembles
a candle-lit interior.

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•To complement the renewed vaulted
ceilings, decorative frescoes, and ornate
arches, the architects chose black steel
for shelves and furniture.

•In order to preserve the character of the

church while achieving the desired
commercial square footage, the
architects erected a two-storey structure
in black steel on one side, where the
books are kept providing with
spectacular views of the church.

•Keeping the shop arrangement on the

other side low created a clear and
decipherable shop.

•The utilities equipment has been

housed in the extended cellar.

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•Viewing from the top shelf just above your head are the faded remains of ceiling paintings
from around 1337; in a very different style, there are others by the artist Jan Vessens,
depicting saints and sinners and episodes from the Bible, dating from 1619.

•The sheer scale of the black steel book stack was necessary for two reasons:
oOne was that a spread of shelves along and across the nave
would have detracted from its character
o. The more worldly reason was that Selexyz needs 1,200 sq m of
selling space to make the shop's finances add up. The church has
a floor area of just 750 sq m, the only way to go was up.

•The book stack, though big, is not one great, irredeemable slab.

•It has some similarities with a normal bookstore, though. The

most popular works, the bestsellers and the ones on special offer,
are stored on low tables, set about with minimalist modern
chairs, on either side of the main bookstack.

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•The central feature of the cafe is a long, cruciform table lit by a lamp
suspended from the stone vaults in the guise of a modern halo.

•A table in the shape of the crucifix

• Medieval Light pattern

•All this works well, and the fabric or the spirit of the church remains intact

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Entrance

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Development

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Blank Slate

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 Review
✗ Excellent use of a
combination of natural as
well as artificial lighting.
✗ The high ceilings contribute
to the expanse and grandeur
of store.
✗ Fusion of gothic and
contemporary architecture.
✗ The strategical space
planning aims to highlight the 16