The restoration and renovation of the building has been accomplished with unusual sensitivity by architect Josef Paul Kleihues. The conjoining of old and the new continues inside the building where the main hall retains its original series of arches topping steel beams.
Clerestory windows fill the room with light as do skylights and a rear wall entirely of glass.
It is a cathedral of the industrial age of the 19th century. The walls are now in plain, pristine white, at once offsetting the elegant 19th century lines and creating a neutral background for the exhibition of the collections. A second major space on the right, the East Gallery, runs parallel to the main hall, with a vaulted ceiling and the warmth of parquet flooring. Each of these spaces can be divided with interior rooms for more intimate exhibition space. Smaller side rooms and additional rooms on the second floor provide still further spaces for exhibitions.