Varied and interesting arts and crafts displayed in an important Modernist building
4.5
4.5
Date of visit: March 2019
I am a carer or friend of a disabled person. I have experience of challenges around: moving around
Overall Rating
Excellent
A must if you are interested in 20th century art and design, especially the work of Piet Mondrian and the de Stijl group. The building is fully accessible, though once you are past the foyer there are heavy doors to contend with. There's free admission for accompanists. Some attendants were quick to help, but we had to rely on the Accompanist's well-established technique of backing through doors and hauling Wheelchair Girl after him - that's the only reason this venue doesn't get five stars. It's worth checking out the website, as they have a variety of temporary displays. We enjoyed seeing some very whacky ceramics. The museum does not open on Mondays.
Disabled Access In and Around
Good
Level entry through automatic doors. Just before the ticket office there are steps, with a platform lift for wheelchair users alongside. Once past the foyer, the wheelchair user will start encountering heavy swing doors (see above). There are lifts to all levels and these are well signposted. The cafe and the courtyard area are also fully accessible.
Parking & Transport
Good
Can't comment on the disabled parking. Bus number 24 got us there from the city centre. Buses are wheelchair accessible. You need to buy a chipkaart in advance, and tap it on a machine both after boarding the bus and before leaving. We were helped on by enthusiastic fellow passengers, and helped off in the same way - so quickly that the Accompanist almost forgot to tap the chipkaarts out. You enter the bus by the middle doors. There appeared to be a ramp, but the driver evidently saw that we were being helped and decided not to deploy. Tram number 16 also runs from the city centre to the museum, but don't be fooled by the caption on Google Maps which says that the tram stop at the museum is wheelchair accessible. The tram stop may be, but the trams using this route are not! For the record, trams numbered 1, 6, 12 and 16 are NOT wheelchair accessible, though the good news is that the route taken by tram number 1 is being modernised so that, at some point in the future, wheelchair accessible trams will run on it. This route can take you from the city centre to the seaside resort of Scheveningen (Holland's answer to Blackpool) or, in the opposite direction to the neighbouring city of Delft.
Accessible Toilets
Excellent
The wheelchair loo (not a changing places loo) is in the basement and is well-signed, though you have to go through a relatively narrow archway to get to the lift, and the people queueing up for the ladies loo were slow to move aside and let us through. The wheelchair loo has an automatic door operated with large, easy to use touchplates on the outside and on the inside. There are grab rails on both sides of the loo, and room for side transfer. There is an approachable sink, and the usual excellent Dutch round the room at skirting board level alarm cord.
Staff
Good
Our experience varied. Some were quick to help, but there were several occasions when we had to navigate heavy swing doors and there was no attendant in sight. Helpful fellow visitors got us through some of them, whereas others were opened by the Accompanist using the barging-backwards-with-the-bum-as-a-battering-ram method, at which he has become very accomplished over the years.
Additional Information
We enjoyed a drink in the large roofed-in courtyard. The building, designed in the Art Deco style by a famous Dutch architect called H P Berlage, is well worth seeing, and the display about Mondrian and the de Stijl movement is excellent. Well recommended if you are interested in such things.
