Designed by bureau SLA in collaboration with Overtreders W, architectural historian Marieke Berkers and landscape architect Joost Emmerik, the new Pavilion Café for the Muiderslot is a contemporary addition to one of the Netherlands’ most iconic historic castles.

Muiderslot is not just a castle. It is a carefully staged world of walls, water, gardens, rituals and views. Our design starts from that richness. Instead of just adding an object, we looked for a way to strengthen the spatial and cultural logic that was already there.

Garden Room

A key insight was that the site contains distinct worlds. There is the fortress, with its defensive logic, embankments and controlled access. And there are the gardens, made for pleasure, cultivation and reflection. The castle connects those worlds. Our proposal adds a pavilion as a contemporary garden room. The pavilion extends the sequence of garden spaces and gives new meaning to the historic ensemble.

That idea of the Pavilion Café Muiderslot as a third garden room became the conceptual core of the design. It extends the historic tradition of nut en sier – utility and beauty – that has defined the castle’s landscape since the time of poet and “drost” (lord) P.C. Hooft in the 17th century. The gardens fed the household, framed social life and stimulated the mind. We wanted the new pavilion to continue that tradition in a contemporary way. It offers shelter, hospitality and orientation.

Fully demountable

Sustainability and circularity are fundamental to the design. The wooden pavilion is fully demountable and designed according to circular principles, allowing it to be disassembled and relocated with minimal waste in the future. Inside, the space offers seating for approximately 70 guests.

The project also restores clarity to the entrance sequence, ticket office and museum shop. The passage through the wall becomes readable again. The foot of the rampart is freed up, the transition into the castle grounds becomes more pronounced, and the visitor experiences more clearly that entering Muiderslot means crossing from one world into another.

We strengthened views, improved orientation and treated the outside space not as leftover terrain but as part of the architecture of arrival. Paths, planting and material choices help guide visitors while keeping the rugged character of the site intact.