Our projects

Roman Villa Museum in Somerset England

We installed outdoor showcases for two original segments of the Berlin Wall in Brussels. 

Vrak – Museum of Wrecks is a brand new maritime archaeological museum in the middle of Stockholm, Sweden. 

Rijksmuseum de Gavangenpoort tells the story of crime and punishment from the 15th to the 19th century.

Visitor Centre The Mauritshuis is safely located by the water, hidden among nature and full of history. 

North-Brabant is the birthplace of Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh (1835 – 1890), one of the most famous painters in the world.

Cathedral Saint-Etienne in Toul is more than eight hundred years old.

The new temporary exhibition of Gallo Romans Museum.

Portopolis, harbour pavilion located at the MAS in Antwerp has been rebranded as a visitor centre for young and old.

On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of STAM, city museum of Ghent, the permanent exhibition ‘The story of Ghent’ has undergone a total make-over.

Fake for Real - A history of forgery and falisifications

Holmegaard Værk is a new hot spot for art-craftsmanship and tradition. At this place, iconic glass items were conceived, shaped and born. The brand new museum capturing the essence of a long Danish history of glass, ceramic and design. Since 2008 Holmegaard Glassworks closed down. The works was abounded and left cold and quit. Now, life is back!

The new hot spot raise Danish design tradition to a level where it has not been since the 1950s and 1960s. The visitors are invited into a world of tradition, art-craftsmanship and beautiful visions. This museum takes everyone back to the artists ‘drawing board, where ingenious ideas became beautiful lines. As visitor you learn about a workplace, where a son follows in his father’s footsteps and were hard labour, stubbornness and curiosity pay off.

Holmegaard Works is a story about the past as inspiration for the future.

Photography: Emilia Therese

KBR is the national academic library of Brussels. All Belgian publications are collected, managed and studied here. Meanwhile a rich collection of cultural and historical heritage of more than 8 million documents. This makes KBR the literary and scientific memory of Belgium. The archive consist of publications by Belgian authors, valuable books, manuscripts, newspapers, prints, scores, coins and much more.

Bruns has been given responsibility for the complete furnishing of the entrance hall of the Royal library of Belgium. After receiving a very complete design from Studio Roma, Bruns has engineered, produced and installed everything down to the last detail. 

The entrance hall is one of the three parts of the Royal library of Belgium project. Besides the entrance hall, Bruns also realized the exposition ‘The World of Bruegel in Black and White’ and the Librije area in the new museum.

Photography: Creativeroom

The World of Bruegel in Black and White

Pieter Bruegel de Oude, is a world famous painter of the 16the century. In his time Bruegel was best known for his prints. Some 450 years ago, Flanders was the centre of the production and trade of prints. In this period Bruegel and his publisher, Hiëronymus Cock, played a key role.

KBR is the pioneer in the rediscovery of Bruegel’s unknown masterpieces. During the Bruegel year a complete collection of prints will be exhibited. Masterful craftsmanship and entrepreneurial spirit are central to this exhibition. Visitors dive into the imaginary world and discover how the process went, from drawing to print.

The exhibitions consist of Bruegel’s original drawings, his Italian landscapes, the seven deadly sins, virtues and other beautiful prints. An exhibition that surprises the visitor with special figures and details in lesser known masterpieces.

Photography: Creativeroom

The temporary exhibition Victory & Sadness is all about the 75 years of liberation of Antwerp. A commemoration to the ending of the Second World War, 75 years ago. Antwerp was liberated on 4th of September in 1944. From that moment, more than four years of occupation are finally over. The first victory day turns into nine long liberation months. Moths in which fear of bombs and destruction occurs. Hungry trough food shortage and concern about the fate of loved ones somewhere far away.

In the exhibition Victory & Sadness discovered the visitor, on the basis of authentic photo’s, film material, testimonials and war objects, how moment of victory and sadness alternate during and after the liberation.

Photo: Vredescentrum

Dossier Oss is about the occurrences around the ‘Bende van Oss”. In the period of 1890-1940 a number of criminal families committed a thousand of criminals facts, from knife-pulling and smashing windows to arson, robberies and even assassination. The municipal police received little respect from the population and it was difficult to get a grip on the crimes. Strengthening of the Military Police was not a superfluous luxury.

A visit to Dossier Oss creates brightness about which role the Military Police has in this period. The visitor is being taken into the run-up to and the consequences of the unrest in this small community. Hereby they meets the protagonist from the turbulent period and they learns more about the often specially relations between Military Police, police, the life of the thieves’ guild and the final political consequences of the disturbed order. Around the café table the visitor is challenged to solve a few crimes: Who has who murdered, how, but above all why?

Photo: Anne Reitsma

After a closure of almost five years, the doors of the Bruges Gruuthuse Palace have been reopened for the general public. In a new museum concept, the 600 collection items shine in different halls. The visitor travels under the motto ‘Plus est en vous’ by Lodewijk van Gruuthuse, diplomat and founder of the city palace, through three crucial periods of the rich Bruges history. 
Not only the collection tells the visitor about the history, also the architecture of the palace is very impressive. The combination of highly decorated and sober halls, large and small rooms and the many (spiral) staircases make the museum trail an exciting exploration. As a visitor you walk in the footsteps of the many previous residents and users of the historic building, which stimulates you imagination and gives you direct access to the past.

Bruns has realized, in cooperation with noAarchitecten and Modac, the exhibition furniture for the renewed Gruuthusemuseum, the welcome pavilion and the educative rooms. There is created a total experience of all the museum spaces. All the rooms tells the story, as it were. The hanging and display of collection items happens in that context too. It are rooms where people like to stay and want to look around. 

Photography: Mathias Desmet, Sarah Bouwens, Dominique Provost and Inge Kinnet

War, occupation, liberation is the biggest national overview exhibition about the WWll. With more than 1000 collection items, the new exhibition presents an overview of the most loaded period between 1919 and 1945 in Belgian history. The new exhibition tells the story of the occupation and liberation of the country in 1940-1944. The end of the war in Europe and Asia in 1944-1945 is also brought to the attention. Finally national socialist repression, persecution and genocidary politics in 1933-1945 are considered.

Special about this exhibition is that it traces far beyond the lines of traditional military history. In addition, much attention is paid to social, political, economic and human consequences of the war. In short, the exhibition is a nuanced, historical- scientific story in which the options, possibilities and ‘choices’ form the red thread the course of the warfare.

The Europe Experiences are established on the initiative of the European Parliament in cooperation with the European Commission. The purpose of the exhibition is to provide more insight into the people, history and politics of the European Union in a surprising and fascinating way. The visitor receives answers to questions in various ways. There are questions like: What is European policy? How works the European Parliament and how do they deal with 28 countries and 24 languages. The exhibition is designed in 24 languages, so that every European can experience the exhibition in its own language.

Bruns has developed, in cooperation with Atelier Brückner, the exhibition in various places. The exhibition consist of a lot of interactive elements. For example, take a seat in 360-degree cinema and experience a plenary session of the European Parliament. Or take part in a simulation game where you directly crawl into the role of a Member of the European Parliament or Commissioner of the European Union. The interaction and personal approach make it possible to explain the European Union in an interesting and accessible way.

Photography: Michael Jungblutv and René Walkenhorst

After the Second World War, the former shelter at the Prinsengracht 263 in Amsterdam is threatened to expire. Otherwise, the resistance to demolition grew, because the Anne Frank story reached more and more people. The result is that in the mid-1950s demolition was prevented and shortly thereafter the Anne Frank Foundation was founded. Today, Anne Frank House is one of the three most visited museums of Amsterdam - The Netherlands.

A number of improvement points have been implemented in the refurbishment. The new museum route now offers much more context information for visitors without thorough knowledge of the Second World War and the Jewish Persecution. In addition, the experience aspect has been strongly influenced and some forms of presentation have been renewed. Dagmar von Wilcken has sought in the new design for more unity in the design of the museum presentations.

Photography: Cris Toala Olivares

Belgium has undergone profound changes, such as the rest of the world during the first World War. Society is struggling with disruption and at the same time reviving. The War Heritage Insitute shows, with the temporary exhibition ‘De Groote oorlog voorbij: 1918-1928’, the big themes such as: the final offensive, the liberation, the period shortly after the war, the geopolitical revolutions, the economic reconstruction, the mourning process and the memories, the socio-political and the socio-cultural changes.

The exhibition includes exceptional pieces from the extensive WHI-collection, from national and international museums. The testimonials and decors from ‘Les Années folles’ and the interactive tools brings an atmospheric surprise and emotional feeling in the exhibition.

Photography: Jarusalem Pierard

The Weverijmuseum Geldrop, a unique museum of its kind, that really brings the memory of Geldrop to life as an important textile city in the 19th and 20th century. This starts with the property in which the museum is housed: a striking factory building at the Kleine Dommel, in which the “Wollenstoffenfabriek A. van den Heuvel and Son” was located. It will be reinforced when you enter the museum. A lot of activity. The weaving looms, often wonders of technology, are clogged as they are called by the weavers and are served by enthusiastic volunteers who used to be active as weavers or otherwise involved in the textile industry.

Responding to the latest developments, the new museum is set up in such a way that the visitor can find his or her way in the museum on the basis of age or interest. In doing so, the visitor gains knowledge about the building, about all kinds of aspects related to weaving and the related looms and machines. The development of the weaving industry in the Netherlands and the role played by the textile industry in Geldrop-Mierlo in the region have also been included.

Photography: Marco Magielse

With over 375.000 objects, the Tropenmuseum, Africa Museum and the Museum of Anthropology manage a huge amount of usage prescriptions from around the world. Most of this is stored in the underground depot which of course is a reals shame.

For that reason, they asked a number of well-known Dutch people to choose their favorite items from this enormous collection. These specially assembled collections are featured in exhibitions presented specially for that purpose built mini museums at different NS stations in the Netherlands. With a design from NorthernLight, Bruns was responsible for the construction and installation of the various mini museums.

Photography:
Jacqueline Spaans
Studio 38c

The Middle Ages are often referred to as a dark and gloomy era. Unfairly so. Therefore Museon believes it is time to take a new, refreshing look at this period. With this exhibition, Museon seeks to put the Middle Ages in a new perspective. Seven characters looking quite familiar, each with a contemporary look, invite you to experience what life looked like a 1000 years ago.

The Middle Ages were actually a time of great inventions and discoveries, with major impact on science, culture, Christian values, the administrative organisation and the boundaries of today’s Europe. And even though this period is far away behind us, its remains and inventions still matter to our daily existence. Think of castles, churches, monasteries and the cities that we can still visit today.

Young and old are immersed in the history and future of this potential UNESCO World Heritage. In the early 19th century, General Johannes van den Bosch founded seven colonies of charity. In the new and interactive visitor center ‘Colony 5-7’ comes this unique story of poverty alleviation and the utopian Experiment again to life.

With the support of Tourism Flanders, Kempens Landschap developed an Interactive, dynamic and multilingual visitor center. On the basis of Chronological and interactive arrangements. Visitors are included in the story of the colonies, their origin and further development. They are immersed in the personal walks, the cultural and natural wealth of the areas. This makes the visitors curious about discovering themselves in the area.

Photography: Bailleul Ontwerpbureau

The new House of European History hosts its first temporary exhibition entitled Interactions: centuries of commerce, combat and creation. The Dutch exhibition design studio Kossmann.dejong and construction company Bruns were appointed to design and create this exhibition together with Kiss the Frog (interaction design) and Shosho (audiovisual design). In a multimedia journey through narrative, themed spaces visitors are invited to learn more about the age-old history of European connections and, at the same time, new interactions between visitors are stimulated.

The House of European History is situated in the historic Eastman building from 1935, which was renovated and extended by Chaix & Morel et Associés and JSWD Architekten. The temporary exhibition 'Interactions: centuries of commerce, combat and creation' is intended, among other things, to let visitors know more about the history of European solidarity. It also aims to stimulate new connections between visitors.

Founded in 1960 by Royal Charter, the National Army Museum was established for the purpose of collecting, preserving and exhibiting objects and records relating to the history of the Land Forces of the Crown. Initially the museum was created to communicate the story of the British Amy from its establishment in 1640 to 1914 and later to cover post-1914 and modern day military operations.

In 2011 the National Army Museum launched a new strategic plan for renewing their museum with a mission to gather, maintain and make known the story of the British Army and its role and impact on world history. To provide a museum experience that meets the widest range of public need and connects the British public with its Army. The National Army Museum wants to be an audience-focus museum which concentrates on the importance of attracting, maintaining and diversifying the audience reached. 

Central to the new proposition is the development of a series of new and innovative permanent galleries. The National Army Museum moved from presenting a chronological approach to its story to a thematic one. With this brand new museum the National Army Museum’s ambition is to be as accessible as possible to all audiences.

Bruns was responsible for the all showcases in the five new galleries of the National Army Museum.

The Caribbean Islands are some of the most highly regarded travel destinations in the world. Most tourists however don’t have any historical knowledge of the Carribean intoxicating mix of cultural confrontations, that left and still leave their traces. With thousands of visitors pulling in on daily basis Terramar offers a platform to tell this story. Understanding this history can provide visitors with a richer and more satisfying view on this beautiful part of the world.

The overall idea of the Terramar Museum is to tell the stories behind historical objects by staging encounters with local habitants of the Caribbean in different historical times. Amerindian talk about their first encounters with a European colonialists, a slave talks about the harsh life on the plantations. Through a combination of historical artefacts, fascinating stories and interactive experiences, history comes to life at Terramar Museum.

Open Treasure is a new world-class exhibition experience now open at the heart of Durham Cathedral. Open Treasure gives visitors access to previously hidden spaces within the Cathedral’s magnificent Claustral buildings, showcasing the Cathedral’s collections so that they can be discovered and enjoyed by many more people of all ages.

The exhibition displayed in an unbroken timeline from the 9th century to the present. 

A collections gallery, hermetically sealed with airlock doors, provides carefully controlled environmental conditions for fragile items in their glass display cabinets – including fish bones found embedded in the floor of the great kitchen and unexpectedly worldly betting slips found in the monks’ quarters.

In 2015, visitors of the National Military Museum could experience a unique temporary exhibition called: The summer of ‘45.

The exhibition The summer of ‘45 is based on a portrait of Dutch life filmed in colour (!) in the summer months immediately following the liberation. Film-maker Alex Roosdorp and his wift cycled 1,000 kilometers through the Netherlands. As they went, he filmed the results of the German occupation: home built in hen coops, children playing with abandoned ammunition and weapons, but also tentative signs of repairs being carried out to damaged homes. Roosdorp’s documentary lay unnoticed in the archives of the EYE film museum for over 50 years.

Incorporating objects from its own collection, the National Military Museum has turned it into a remarkable exhibition, in which movie images, music and objects bring a unique moment in Dutch history to life.

Photography: Anne Reitsma

The last remaining authentic camp barrack 1 on the Lunettenlaan has been a listed building since 2001. Barrack unit 1B stood empty until the foundation (a partnership between the Museum Maluku, the Vughts Museum and Camp Vught National Memorial) acquired the right of superficies in 2010.

Under the flag of Camp Vught National Memorial, a permanent resentation has been developed on the history and functions of the barrack. The exhibition covers four periods: the concentration camp (1943-1944), the evacuation camp for German civilian evacuees from the border area (1944-1945) and the internment camp (1944-1949). Since 1951, part of the camp has been in use as ‘Lunetten’ residential compound for Moluccan ex-KNIL soldiers and their families. Barrack 1B brings together the experiences of tens of thousands of people who were forced to stay at this location during the past 70 years.

The basis of the Red Star Line Museum consists of stories of people who travelled to America with the shipping company. The focus is on six witnesses, including Albert Einstein and Irving Berlin. The main exhibition takes visitors along the various phases of the journey from the travel agents in Warsaw to the new life in the United States. The aim is to give an impression of the tough journey European migrants had to complete in order to seek a better future.

The last part of the exhibition links the past with the present in order to show that migration is universal and timeless. With a view to providing a better impression of all the stories collected by the Red Star Line Museum, the collection contains various personal items such as photos and documents, as well as objects donated to the museum by the descendants of the passengers.

The Red Star Line Museum is a museum packed with memories, at an authentic location, where the focus is on the visitors’ experience. The forgotten history is brought to life from the perspective of the people who experienced it.

Photography: Michel Wuyts

C-mine, which is housed on the foundations of the mine in Winterslag and is a site which is designed to stimulate creativity. C-mine intends to be a meeting place for people who want to be stimulated in their professional lives or leisure time by various forms of creativity and creative innovation. C-mine brings vitality and offers new experiences, stimulates curiosity and challenges people to make new discoveries. The C-mine site is a unique, authentic and wondrous place with a living past and an interesting and creative exhibition. C-mine is a place where a wide variety of people and ideas meet each other and share their creativity. A visit to the site is an experience that will excite any visitor.

With C-mine you’ll achieve an ‘inexhaustible’ highlight. An impressive fan welcomes you for a special tour that will take you through the underground passageways. You will be surprised with original installations that will touch your senses with no doubt.