The Vasa Museum: Temorarily closed mid March and April

In the middle of September 2011, ground was broken for the new extension at the Vasa Museum. A new entrance will provide greater opportunity for temporary exhibitions and a more functional museum shop will also open. Between 18 March and 30 April, the museum is closed due to renovation.

The building was constructed 20 years ago, designed for 600, 000. The number of visitors exceeded this figure right from the start and the museum now boasts more than 1,000,000 visitors annually, which makes it one of the most popular tourist attractions in Sweden.

The Vasa Museum, which at present has a maximum capacity of 1, 600 visitors at a time, will be able to welcome 2, 000 visitors at a time after the reconstruction and extension. With that, it is intended that queues will be reduced during the peak season and that hundreds of thousands of tourists will have a better museum experience, regardless of functional ability.

The most important functions are located on the ground floor. The project includes the reconstruction of existing premises and an extension of approximately 1, 600 square metres. This will include a new store, an entrance hall with improved areas for groups, and in addition a new hall for temporary exhibitions.

- The Vasa Museum is one of the premier visitor attractions in the country. It is vital that efforts are made to improve the museum in order to keep it as a top attraction. The museum is also a good example of how the interest in our cultural heritage can be brought by many children and young people, says Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth, Minister for Culture and Sports in Sweden

Månsson Dahlbäck Arkitektkontor through Göran Månsson and Marianne Dahlbäck, the museum's original architects, has been engaged to design the planned reconstruction and extension. The Vasa Museum was built in the late 1980s after an open Nordic architectural competition with 384 contributions. The building, with Vasa being a constant eye-catcher from all floors of the building, has attracted international attention and has become a landmark in Stockholm.

The Vasa Museum has increasingly strengthened its position as a tourist attraction. In October 2009 the museum was awarded the international prize "TRIP Global Award" and thus gained recognition as the best experience in Sweden by French, German, English, Dutch, Italian, Russian and American tour operators. During the same year the Vasa Museum ranked highest in terms of popularity among locals in the museum survey conducted by the investigation company ISI Wissing