Cruquius museum

An immersive look at Haarlemmermeer’s history and the world’s largest steam engine.

Cruquius Museum, Cruquius (NL), 2020

Entrance to the Cruquius Museum featuring exposed brick walls and illuminated signage, with a blurred figure walking through the doorway.

Overview

The Cruquius Museum occupies the historic pumping station that once housed one of the world’s largest steam engines, a key force in draining the Haarlemmermeer lake and shaping the Dutch landscape. The museum blends preserved industrial architecture with contemporary exhibits, inviting visitors to explore the technological ingenuity and societal impact of 19th-century steam power.

Through interactive displays, audiovisual media, large-scale projections, and hands-on activities, visitors explore engineering principles, environmental history, and human stories, discovering the power of steam technology and the massive machinery behind it.

  • Woman ascending a staircase inside the museum, with typographic quotes from 17th-century poetry and documents displayed on the surrounding walls.
  • Two visitors standing in front of a large projected historical illustration of the Cruquius pumping station, part of the museum’s narrative on land reclamation.
  • Close-up of a hand interacting with a digital map showing historical topography, part of an interactive display explaining the geography of Haarlemmermeer.
  • Museum visitor exploring a display case containing navigation instruments, maps, and archaeological artifacts, with a touch screen integrated into the surface.

Contribution

I led the interaction strategy, as well as the multimedia design, and audiovisual installations, shaping a hands-on workshop experience where visitors explore the engine through physical models and hands-on stations.

My role included defining a coherent visual and interactive system that unifies preserved machinery, interpretive media, and immersive installations, ensuring clarity and engagement across historical, technical, and narrative layers.

Collaborating with different teams and partners, I translated complex engineering and environmental history into playful and accessible content formats through strategic interpretation, multimedia pacing, and spatial logic, supporting both learning and wonder in a heritage context.

  • Panoramic view of the gallery featuring an immersive wall projection of historical maps and a portrait of King Willem I, with visitors engaging with the exhibits.
  • Woman interacting with a digital touchscreen in front of a large decorative map, using the interface to explore historical information.
  • Two visitors interacting with a long display table featuring historical navigation tools, ceramic artifacts, and a digital map interface, in a gallery combining exposed brick and museum lighting.
  • Woman examining a large wall-mounted visual timeline that traces the development of steam technology from 1643 onward, featuring historical texts and illustrations.
  • Child peering into a reconstructed boiler installation, while two other children in the foreground use audio handsets to explore the exhibit in the “Boiler Room” section.
  • Young boy using a touchscreen embedded in a wall panel to learn about the properties and transformations of steam.
  • Child interacting with a horizontal touchscreen table, placed in front of a large infographic panel showing engineering data and historical timelines of the pumping station.
  • Children interacting with tall, black cylindrical structures that present historical information about steam power, surrounded by other exhibits and timeline graphics.

Key achievements

  • Led interaction strategy, as well as multimedia design, and audiovisual installations for a permanent industrial heritage exhibition.
  • Built a coherent visual and interactive system connecting preserved machinery, interpretive media, and hands-on installations.
  • Translated complex engineering and environmental history into playful, accessible experiences.
  • Shaped a hands-on workshop environment that encourages exploration and learning by doing.
  • Collaborated with multidisciplinary teams and external partners across design, content, and production.
  • Three children closely examining a hands-on model of a steam engine, focusing on its moving mechanical parts.
  • A young woman observing a detailed infographic display with historical data, diagrams, and scale models related to the Cruquius pumping station and its steam engines.
  • Visitor standing near the massive Cruquius engine installation, surrounded by large iron components and a spiral staircase inside the museum.
  • Children seated at a long interactive counter, experimenting with steam engine models, assisted by a woman under a “Stoomlab” sign in the background.

Recognition

Featured on Behance’s Graphic Design gallery:
Exhibition & Signage category
Featured on Behance's Illustrator gallery

Credits

Role: Art Director | Lead Designer
Employer: Studio Louter
Client: Cruquius Museum
Photography: Mike Bink

© All rights reserved to Studio Louter

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