The National Military Museum Soesterberg

In 2015, the Netherlands have a new tourist attraction, the National Military Museum in Soesterberg (NL). December 2014, King Willem Alexander of the Netherlands has opened the museum and subsequently, the attraction has opened her doors for the public audience to visit. The building is an architectonic project with a large amount of SAB cladding and decking material on the walls and roof, which has been realised by Nedicom, a cladding company from Asten (NL).

The museum can be found on the former military airbase Soesterberg in the middle of the Netherlands near route A28 in between Utrecht and Amersfoort. In the building, collections from two army museums are brought together: collections from the Army Museum in Delft and the Military Airforce Museum in Soesterberg. Together, they form an impressive collection with tanks, aircrafts and weapons which are exposed to tell the story of the Dutch Armed Forces in the past, present and future.

The large outdoor space provides a beautiful site for expositions. Special attention has been paid to the preservation and development of nature around the museum, which is situated in a remarkable area, the Utrechtse Heuvelrug.

Striking part of the building is the large rooftop which measures almost 32.000 m² and is completely covered with steel sheet. Looking up from the inside of the building you will see a 1 mm thick deep deck SAB 158R/750 (partly perforated) in a custom-made color RAL 8022 (black-brown), Colorcoat PE 25. On the outside of the building, the same color is applied on over 4.000 m² sinusoidal profile SAB 18/988, to preserve the material in the outside weather conditions, Colorcoat Prisma®  is applied. This coating has a 30 year Confidex® guarantee for use outdoors. Realisation of the cladding and decking work is done by Nedicom dak- en geveltechniek from Asten.

The museum is worthwhile visiting, not only for the collection, but for the building itself as well. Look for more information about the museum and opening hours on www.nmm.nl/.