Success can be experienced as oppressive, even in a quiet environment like a museum. The University Museum Utrecht was bursting at the seams due to increasing interest and consequently a major renovation plan was launched in October 2019 with the core ideas of creating more space and making the visitor a researcher. That is nearing completion provided all the work is done correctly. That is where the responsibility lies of ET Management & Advice which, as Commissioning Manager (Cx-Man) on behalf of Newtech BV, will be leading this control process.
This is purely about the mechanical and electrical engineering components of the installation and not about the constructional facilities. Setting up an iSAT (Intergrated Site Acceptance Test) is part of the job description, so that the museum will soon have hardware and software that not only function properly but are also integrated with each other in the right way.
Currently, the plans are being implemented in practice, causing the museum to be closed. After the reopening, the main bottlenecks will have been resolved, which means that the entrance area will have been enlarged, there will be more space for exhibitions, the reception and checkroom will be larger and there will be more toilets. Also, some of the offices will be included in the museum.
Rietveld Prize
All in all it is an honorable project, not only because it involves a knowledge institution, but also because of the architectural value of the building: the monument was awarded the Rietveld Prize in 1996. For this reason, the renovation plans were not taken lightly: extensive consultations preceded and the plans were even adjusted to preserve the unique appearance even better. The emphasis of ET Management & Advice’s assignment is on functionality, such as the temperature and humidity within a room that must be within a certain bandwidth.
At the same time the safety of employees, visitors and the unique collection must always be guaranteed; that is also the gatekeeper function of ET Management & Advice. This includes fire safety in combination with CCTV camera surveillance, access control systems and an intrusion alarm system.
Dinotherium and more
To indicate the value of the collection: the Utrecht University Museum houses scientific breakthroughs from the past of Utrecht University and other valuable historical objects. These include, for example, a plaster cast of a Dinotherium that is one of the largest elephant species that ever lived. The museum’s collection has been moved to various depots inside and outside Utrecht, but you can see part of it online at www.umu.nl.
Near the museum you will also find the internationally renowned Hortus Botanicus, but these botanical gardens with plants and flowers from all over the world are not part of ET Management & Advice’s commissioning tasks.