Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen: Rotterdam’s Open Art Storehouse

This guide is for people who have moved to Rotterdam from abroad and want to know whether the Depot Boijmans Van Beuningen is worth a weekend afternoon, an evening out or a trip with the children. It covers what makes the building different, how tickets and time slots work, what is on the roof and what you can see while the main museum is being renovated.

• What makes the Depot different
• Tickets, time slots and guided tours
• The rooftop and Restaurant Renilde
• What is open during the renovation
• Visiting with children
• FAQ

What makes the Depot different

Most museums show only a small part of what they own. According to the museum’s About the Depot page, King Willem-Alexander opened the Depot on 5 November 2021. It is the world’s first art storage facility open to the public, designed by MVRDV, and it stands next to Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen in Museumpark. The collection has been growing since 1849 and now holds more than 154,000 objects, around 89,000 of them prints and drawings. Only eight percent of it could ever be displayed in the museum building. In the Depot you can see the entire collection.

The works are not arranged by period or art movement. They are arranged by the climate each object needs. Fourteen compartments are fitted with shelves, racks and cabinets for paintings, metal objects, organic and non-organic materials, and black-and-white and colour photography. You look in from the circulation route, the stairs and the lift, so a medieval panel can sit a few metres from a modern photograph. If you have only known museums with neat chronological rooms, this takes a little getting used to, and that is part of what makes it fun.

It is also a working building. As you walk in, a glass wall lets you see where artworks are unloaded. Through large windows you can watch restorers at work and see pieces being packed for loan or unpacked when they come back from an exhibition elsewhere.

The architecture deserves time too. The building is 39.5 metres high, the same height as the tower of the neighbouring museum, and its façade is made of 1664 mirrored panels that reflect the park and the skyline. Inside, artist Marieke van Diemen designed The Maze, a labyrinth of floating display cases in the atrium crossed by zigzag stairs. John Körmeling designed the entrance hall, with a curved balcony of bright pink lockers. If you are passing in the evening, Pipilotti Rist’s video light installation Het Leven Verspillen Aan Jou is visible on the square in front of the Depot from sunset to midnight, reflected in the façade.

Tickets, time slots and guided tours

The key rule is simple: without a time slot you cannot visit the Depot. Book online before you go rather than turning up on your bike and hoping.

• Time slots: every visit needs a booked slot. Donors, Friends and guests with a privilege pass can book one or several slots through their own booking route.
• Guided tour: the Depot ticket includes a free guided tour during your visit, subject to availability. With a guide you can go inside one of the storage compartments, which you cannot do on your own.
• Prices and opening hours: the pages used for this guide do not list standard Depot ticket prices or opening times. Check the tickets section of boijmans.nl for current details.

If the Depot becomes a favourite, the museum also offers a Friends membership, which includes an invitation to the annual Museumpark Vriendendag.

The rooftop and Restaurant Renilde

As the Seeing & Doing page puts it, an express lift takes you to the sixth floor, where the roof gives you a panoramic view over the city. The roof garden has seventy-five birch trees and some twenty pine trees, so from the air it blends into the park below. Rainwater stored in the building waters the garden. Restaurant Renilde, with 120 seats, sits up here too. The pages do not say whether roof access has its own rules or hours, so check the website before you plan around it.

For a proper adults’ evening, the Depot and Renilde combination ticket is the one to know about:

• You can start your Depot visit from 15:00. Renilde welcomes you with an aperitif at 17:00.
• After that, a guide takes you through several art compartments while the museum is closed to other visitors. Dinner starts at 18:00.
• It runs every Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
• The combined ticket costs €90 per person, aperitif included. From 22 October the price becomes €100. During the Marisol exhibition (9 October 2026 to 29 March 2027) a surcharge is added to the ticket price; the ticket page gives the amount.
• Friends of Boijmans and holders of various discount cards get a reduced rate.
• You cannot cancel, but you can rebook up to 72 hours ahead. For groups of more than 8, email renilde@boijmans.nl.
• Chef Jim de Jong’s menu changes daily. Tell them about allergies and dietary needs when you book, because nothing can be changed on the night. A fully vegetarian menu is available, but the kitchen cannot make meals that are completely free of sugar, salt, onion or garlic, or fully vegan.

What is open during the renovation

The main museum building is being renovated, and the museum’s website has a Renovation section with the latest news. For now, the Depot is where you see the collection and the current programme. At the time of writing, the Seeing & Doing page lists:

• Marisol: a major retrospective of an icon of Pop Art, running from 9 October 2026 to 29 March 2027.
• Research on track: Van Gogh’s Poplars near Nuenen, in the conservation studios.
• Harvest 2026 – Pip Greenaway and Endless Reflections.
• Moveo Art Collection in Compartment A3.06.
• Coming soon: Ernesto Neto, the Brazilian artist’s first museum solo exhibition in the Netherlands.

There is a separate guided tour for the temporary exhibition. If you want to plan ahead, Boijmans Collection Online lets you browse thousands of artworks from home.

Visiting with children

The Seeing & Doing page lists “Visiting with kids (for free)” as an activity, along with Hidden Books and Boijmans Backstage. The pages used here do not give age limits or conditions, so read the details on the website before you book.

The building itself is easy to sell to children: glass lifts, a mirrored exterior, floating display cases, people restoring paintings behind windows and trees on the roof. Because nothing is grouped into long themed rooms, children can wander and point rather than follow a set route. The Renilde package, with its aperitif, after-hours tour and 18:00 dinner, works best as an evening for adults.

FAQ

Do I need to book a time slot for the Depot?

Yes. Without a time slot you cannot visit the Depot, so book online in advance. Your Depot ticket also includes a free guided tour, subject to availability, which takes you inside a storage compartment.

Can I still see the Boijmans collection while the main museum is renovated?

Yes. The Depot holds the museum’s entire collection of more than 154,000 objects, and the current exhibitions, including the Marisol retrospective, are listed there. The Renovation section of the museum’s website has updates on the main building.

How much is the Depot and Renilde dinner ticket?

It costs €90 per person, aperitif included, and rises to €100 from 22 October. A surcharge applies during the Marisol exhibition, with the amount shown on the ticket page. The package runs on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

Can children visit for free?

The museum lists “Visiting with kids (for free)” among its activities. The conditions and any age limits are not set out on the pages used for this guide, so check the museum’s website before you go.

Official sources: boijmans.nl · boijmans.nl · boijmans.nl

Last checked: 11 October 2026 against the pages linked above. Prices, opening hours and programmes change; the venue’s own site always has the current details.