Peter Zumthor's Expanded Fondation Beyeler Opens Its Doors

Peter Zumthor's expansion of the Fondation Beyeler in Riehen near Basel begins opening to the public on September 26, 2026, ahead of a full opening on January 15, 2027. Three new buildings, an expanded park, and restored historic structures extend the museum beyond Renzo Piano's existing building, creating a larger setting for art, architecture, nature, and public life.

'This understanding of the place was important to me. I wanted my buildings to blend in so naturally, that it felt completely self-evident. It makes me happy when people now tell me they look as if they've always been here. That's a wonderful compliment for my work,' the architect says of the new architecture.

Zumthor has distributed the functions of the expansion across the Wyss Museum, the Ammann Pavilion, and the Erlen Torhaus, each responding differently to the existing landscape. The project also opens a formerly private section of the heritage-listed park to visitors, adding almost 10,000 square meters of gardens, meadows, trees, and water features to the museum grounds.

Three buildings instead of one large extension

Following a study involving 11 architecture practices, an international jury unanimously selected Zumthor's proposal. The Swiss architect divided the new functions between three buildings with distinct forms and materials, reducing the overall volume of the extension.

'If we'd crammed all the functions onto a single plot, we'd have ended up with one big building with everything squeezed into a single box,' Zumthor explains. 'I like art museums that really only serve art, so I split up the different functions.'

The approach reflects his reading of the site as a place shaped by an older pattern of villas, gardens, paths, and water. Zumthor wanted the new architecture to feel as though it belonged to the location rather than announcing itself as a separate intervention. 'I wanted my buildings to blend in so naturally, that it felt completely self-evident,' he adds.

The Wyss Museum centers on stone and side light

The Wyss Museum adds around 1,500 square meters of exhibition space across three floors. Its irregular Y-shaped plan was developed around an existing ginkgo, a redwood, and a group of plane trees, turning the constraints of the site into the organizing principle of the building. Large windows frame views of the verdant surroundings, including the Jura and Black Forest on clear days. An upper-level terrace connects back to the park by an external staircase, extending the sequence of movement beyond the galleries.

The museum is constructed largely around Jura limestone, a material Zumthor deploys throughout the building. The stone appears in benches and staircases, terrazzo floors, ceiling aggregate, and mineral plaster, while the rammed-concrete facade takes on a warm yellow tone from the local limestone.

'It was clear to me that this park needed a new villa. And now it has one. Of course, a villa is not made of wood. It's made of stone. And if it's made of stone, it has to be my favorite stone: Jura limestone,' he shares.

A single team built the rammed-concrete facade by hand over almost a year, leaving subtle variations and traces of the construction process visible on the surface. Zumthor accepted these irregularities deliberately, because they reveal how the building was made rather than presenting the facade as a perfectly uniform skin. 'You have to see how it came about,' the architect highlights. 'I want people to realize that this isn't just a facade. It's moulded, layered, made by hand.'

The interior is organized around movement and changing views rather than a conventional gallery corridor. Zumthor describes the Wyss Museum as 'one big spiral', with visitors moving upward from the street through a continuous sequence of spaces before returning toward the garden.

'Art doesn't compete with the landscape; the two work together,' Zumthor notes, describing a building in which side light and framed views replace the more enclosed character of a conventional gallery. Where Renzo Piano's museum draws on industrial construction and top lighting, Zumthor chose a language based on stone, rammed concrete, and light entering from the side.

A pavilion for art, music, and public life

Between the two museum buildings and the historic structures, the Ammann Pavilion acts as the social center of the expanded ensemble. The single-story building combines glass and oak and opens broadly onto the park, while cherry and pear wood give the interior a warmer character.

The pavilion is free to enter and can operate independently of museum hours. By day, it functions as a public lounge where visitors and passers-by can sit, read, meet, or spend time in the park. In the evening, it becomes a venue for concerts, performances, talks, film screenings, and other cultural events for up to 250 people.

Acoustic design was central to the architecture. The room had to accommodate both music and social gatherings, which require different acoustic conditions. Zumthor describes the challenge as creating enough horizontal reflection for music while allowing the space to absorb the higher noise levels generated by receptions and dinners.

Set into the slope at the level of the upper garden, the interior steps gently toward the stage, taking advantage of a height difference that was already part of the historic landscape.

'For me, the landscape, the urban cityscape, the urban landscape and nature, is the greatest thing we have,' Zumthor says. 'If we carefully construct in response to the landscape, if we genuinely see it as it is, then the building we design naturally recedes in importance.'

Reopening the park as part of the museum

Almost 10,000 square meters of formerly private parkland now open to the public, extending the existing 19th-century English landscape gardens designed by Jean-François Caillat. The new section has a more enclosed and informal character, with species-rich meadows, native orchids, wooded areas, and water features. The park also connects directly to the Landschaftspark Wiese nature reserve, creating a larger ecological setting around the museum.

A bridge designed by Zumthor crosses the pond, offering a slow passage through the landscape with views of artworks placed among the trees, meadows, and water. Works by Alexander Calder, Jenny Holzer, Ellsworth Kelly, Philippe Parreno, Thomas Schütte, and Fischli/Weiss are joined by new works by Louise Bourgeois, Pierre Huyghe, Rachel Whiteread, and Fujiko Nakaya.

The new structures frame views, establish paths, and create a public square between the Torhaus, museum, and pavilion. The square follows the line of a former village brook, one of the less visible historical traces connecting the site. 'You don't need to analyse it intellectually, you can simply feel it,' Zumthor proposes.

Historic buildings take on new uses

Several existing structures have been restored and given new functions. The heritage-listed Orangerie, redesigned by India Mahdavi, combines a small greenhouse with a shop for plant lovers. Its planting scheme focuses on species already capable of thriving in Switzerland and considers how plants may respond to changing climatic conditions, with botanical gardens and research institutions contributing to the project.

The Ammann Atelier accommodates up to 50 people for art education programs, and during the opening year its free Open Studio will give visitors a place to work on their own at weekends. The nearby Salon is set up as a listening room with more than 2,000 vinyl records, ranging from Baroque and jazz to electronic music. The smallest of the new spaces is the Folly, a compact exhibition room whose column-like form recalls a small classical temple.

The Erlen Torhaus marks the transition from the village to the nature reserve. Its lower level handles artwork deliveries before they move down to the exhibition preparation areas, while the upper floors contain workspaces. The simple timber-frame facade is finished in stained oak and takes its cue from Zumthor's studio in Haldenstein, Switzerland.

An ensemble rather than an extension

The expanded Fondation Beyeler will open through a limited preview phase before welcoming visitors every day from January 15, 2027. The inaugural program brings exhibitions, concerts, performances, workshops, film screenings, music sessions, and botanical events to the new and restored spaces.

The first major exhibition, Constellations, brings more than 200 works from the Fondation Beyeler collection and private collections across the two museum buildings, the park, and the historic structures. The exhibition will change with the seasons, allowing different works and spaces to come into focus as visitors move through the ensemble.

With the expansion, the Fondation Beyeler becomes a larger place to experience art, and also somewhere to spend time outside the galleries, moving between exhibitions, gardens, cultural events, and the restored buildings. Asked what he wants people to associate with the new buildings, Peter Zumthor is clear about his intention: 'I try to build buildings that are loved.'