The Rubens House museum in Antwerp is taking a significant step in the museum’s ambitious renovation. Following an international architectural competition, architects Origin & Happel Cornelisse Verhoeven were appointed to restore the artist’s residence, the gardener’s cottage, the Kolveniershof, and the adjacent renovation. 

The storytelling and scenography will be developed in collaboration with Wondering, also following an international competition, in co-production with Studio Louter, Chris Pype Licht, Create.eu, and StudioMDA. The final design and concrete planning are expected in 2027.

Since 2016, the Rubens House has been collaborating with municipal real estate agency AG Vespa on a necessary renovation to prepare the museum for the future. 

The artist’s residence closed to the public in early 2023. Since then, Rubens’s estate – located between Hopland, Wapper, and Kolveniersstraat – has been gradually renovated and restored. The new building at Hopland 13, featuring the Rubens Experience, the library, and the redesigned garden, opened in August 2024.

The next phase in the Rubens House project is the restoration of the artist’s residence, the gardener’s cottage, the Kolveniershof, and the completion of the adjacent renovation. 

In Rubens’s time, the Kolveniershof was home to the Antwerp Kolveniers Guild. In the future, the building will take on a new role as a venue for workshops, lectures, and museum activities, fully in line with Rubens’s vision of international encounters and creativity. 

The building volume of the former Rubenianum will be reduced and partially rebuilt using recycled materials from the demolition. This will emphasize sustainability and circular principles. The renovated building will have a dual function: in winter, it will house potted plants from the garden, while in spring and summer it will create space for small-scale events and activities. Staff rooms will also be created.

International competitions

The Rubens House and AG Vespa launched two international competitions for the architectural design and scenography. More than twenty-five entries were submitted. 

The selected teams each impressed with their strong focus on Rubens’s unique character as a visionary architect and storyteller. Over the next year, the teams will further develop their competition proposals. The final design and detailed timeline are expected in 2027.

Strong vision for restoration and the future

The temporary association Origin & Happel Cornelisse Verhoeven – a team from Belgium and the Netherlands – impressed with their respect for the heritage and the well-thought-out interventions. Each building is examined individually, with a tailored approach that emphasizes its unique character and historical value. The multidisciplinary team has expertise in restoration, complex techniques, and circular construction. 

This approach aligns with the architectural history of the Rubens House, where Rubens and later Antwerp City Architect Emiel Van Averbeke built upon existing structures during the post-war restoration, reusing materials.

Origin is known, among other things, for the restoration of Antwerp City Hall, for which they recently received an international award. Happel Cornelisse Verhoeven Architects has received multiple awards for the restoration of Museum De Lakenhal in Leiden.

Rubens as a storyteller

For the storytelling and scenography, the Belgian design agency Wondering captured Rubens’s power as an extraordinary storyteller in their proposal. With a compelling narrative and a design that alternates between intimate and theatrical, they sketch the contrasts that typify Rubens as an artist and a human being.

Thanks to an inventive public engagement programme, Rubens’s boundless lust for life will come to life even more vividly, and visitors will also discover something about themselves. Wondering is partnering with several Belgian companies, including the multimedia studio Create.eu and lighting specialist Chris Pype, the Dutch Studio Louter, and StudioMDA.

Alderman for Culture Lien Van de Kelder (Vooruit): “I’m already itching to step inside Rubens’s enchanting studio again. I have every confidence in the creative design teams now ready. They will restore this gem to its former glory and create an inspiring meeting place for the future. A place that invites Antwerp residents and international visitors to discover, to marvel, to keep looking. Pending the completion of the work, we are also exploring the possibility of temporarily opening part of the site to the creative makers our city boasts. This will literally and figuratively create space for the Rubens of tomorrow!”

Art and museums in Antwerp

• ROYAL MUSEUM OF FINE ARTS ANTWERP | ‘The Fall of Alba’s Citadel. Image and Memory in Turbulent Times’, from 6 February to 17 May 2026.
• Antwerp’s municipal museums surpass 2 million visitors in 2025.
• ANTWERP | KMSKA schedules ambitious exhibition programme for 2026, featuring international masters such as Antony Gormley, Philip Aguirre y Otegui and Ossip Zadkine.
• Museums of the City of Antwerp look ahead to 2026.
• ANTWERP | ‘Urban Legends’: three young makers take over Museum Mayer van den Bergh on 29 November, 6 December and 29 January.
• ANTWERP | ‘Suske & Wiske and the Visual Arts’: M HKA shows how a comic strip series Shapes the collective memory.
• REVIEW | ‘La ligne de vie’ René Magritte exhibition at Royal Museum of Fine Arts Antwerp (KMSKA).
• REVIEW | ‘Universal Tongue’, on dance, at Museum Aan de Stroom (MAS) until 4 January 2026.
• 2028 to be Music Year in Antwerp.
• ANTWERP | Flemish government cancels €130 million new museum building for M HKA in Antwerp.
• MOMU | ‘GIRLS. On Boredom, Rebellion and Being In-Between’, 27 September 2025 to 1 February 2026.
• ANTWERP | Museum Plantin-Moretus highlights 300 years of women’s stories in ‘Women’s Business / Business Women’.
• ANTWERP | Museum Mayer van den Bergh opens exhibition ‘Public Favourites’, from Mad Meg to Delft Blue, look at art through other people’s eyes.
• ANTWERP | Middelheim Museum celebrates 75 years with a summer full of new ways to experience the art park.
• ANTWERP | ‘Compassion’ in the MAS: the many faces of compassion.
• ANTWERP | Graphics Museum De Reede ft. Francisco Goya, Edvard Munch, Félicien Rops and Albrecht Dürer.
• ANTWERP | Rubens Experience and Rubens Garden at Rubenshuis.
• ANTWERP | Innovations in the Middelheim Museum provide a completely new visitor experience.
• A visit of the Flemish Tram and Bus Museum – Vlaams Tram- en Autobusmuseum (VlaTAM) in Antwerp.
• ANTWERP | Discovering queer(ed) art with the Queer Tour at the KMSKA fine arts museum.
• REVIEW | Illusion Antwerpen, an active and photogenic museum.
• Antwerp museums and sports facilities team up with European Disability Card for accessible leisure activities.
• Museum Mayer van den Bergh.
• ANTWERP | Inside Rubens House.
• Museum Plantin-Moretus in Antwerp.
• ANTWERP | Museum Vleeshuis up for restoration.
• BOOK | ‘Antwerp. An Archaeological View on the Origin of the City’ by Tim Bellens.
• Red Star Line Museum.
• Paleis op de Meir. 
• DIVA, Antwerp Home of Diamonds.
• ANTWERP | Red Star Line Museum of (e)migration.