National Liberation Museum 1944 - 1945 Groesbeek reaches highest point

Shaded Dome new home for Liberation Museum

On May 7, the highest point of the new National Liberation Museum 1944-1945 building was reached. In a few hours on Tuesday, the roof was slowly "blown up" during a precision operation. The museum will find its new home in a Shaded Dome. Developed and supplied by Shaded Dome Technologies, the Shaded Dome bears a strong resemblance to an enormous parachute, a recognizable logo of the liberation at the time. With a Shaded Dome as roof, the museum will be an exceptional building and a recognizable eye-catcher in the green, hilly landscape of Groesbeek.

The Liberation Museum is located on the outskirts of Groesbeek in the area where Operation Market Garden and the Rhineland Offensive took place. With a Shaded Dome as its roof, the building will have a distinct and recognizable shape that refers to the thousands of parachutes that filled the sky in 1944 during Operation Market Garden. Moreover, the new building also evokes the memory of the museum's former memorial dome, designed by architect Antoon Croonen. The new museum will open in September 2019 when activities begin at the commemoration surrounding 75 Years of Freedom and Operation Market Garden.

Museum director Wiel Lenders: " With the Shaded Dome, the new Liberation Museum is a highly efficient and energy-efficient building with minimal use of materials. Moreover, the operating costs are low and the materials used can be recycled."

The Shaded Dome is a patented, sustainable building with an optimal indoor climate even in extreme weather conditions. The innovative building concept consists of an inflatable dome, a network of steel cables and a canopy made of hi-tech textiles that allows for an extremely flexible building form. The dome is almost 12 meters high at its highest point and has a free span of 60 meters, allowing the spaces in the museum with reception, restaurant and exhibition areas to be rearranged easily and without great expense.

The Shaded Dome is an innovation of Shaded Dome Technologies, founded by ZJA Zwarts & Jansma Architects, Royal HaskoningDHV and Poly-Ned.