Rijksmuseum: Relocation of offices, documentation centre and heavy works of art

After ten years of demolition, renovation and restoration, the Rijksmuseum was opened to the public again in April 2013. Just as in 2004, Saan Relocation handled the relocation of the documentation centre and all the offices. In addition, a ‘heavy’ work of art was relocated by Saan.

Following a European tender, even back in 2004 Saan Relocation had already been selected by the Rijksmuseum as one of the two relocation partners and since then Saan has handled all the (office) relocation jobs that have come up. In 2012, a new agreement was concluded on carrying out this relocation work again. Then an agreement was also concluded on the relocation and installation of all heavy works of art during the setup of the new museum.

The relocation was carried out in phases. For instance, in the weeks before the reopening it was the documentation centre that was the first to be relocated. All the documentation was coded, relocated, unpacked again and put in the right positions at the new location by Saan. The proactive tips relating to the collection logistics were greatly valued by the Rijksmuseum.
Because there is only a very small lift in the Rijkmuseum’s office building, Saan relocated all the office bits and pieces and workstations via the windows. Here a mobile relocation lift was used. Because of the long walking distance to the lift, Saan carried out a trial run. In this, the goods were first set down temporarily before everything was moved to the right floor. Before the opening, Saan also positioned all the heavy sculptures in the sculpture park.
Tasks carried out: 
Packing, relocation, unpacking and setup of the documentation centre 
Relocation of all workstations 
Relocation and installation of ‘heavy’ works of art.