After my first visit to the former Leeuw brewery in Valkenburg, there was one more opportunity to return. The complex was closed again shortly afterwards. This is the photographic series from that second visit.
The first time, I was allowed inside because work was under way on a pop-up restaurant. Access was welcome, but conditions were not ideal everywhere. Several rooms had floodlights for work and security. Anyone who has seen the first series will understand why I welcomed another chance.
A second series
There is something pleasant about returning: you no longer have to work out where you are at every door. Repetition is a risk, though. The same room does not automatically produce a different photograph because you stand there on another day.
On a second visit, the relationship between spaces becomes more interesting. A brewery is built around a production process. The size of the halls and their connections follow from that. Even without production, the original purpose still shapes the building.
Haacht acquired De Leeuw in 2000. Brewing in Valkenburg ended in 2005 and production moved to Belgium. The complex then went through a period in which a future use was still being sought. My two visits belong to that part of its history, long after the working brewery.
The two series can be viewed together. They do not document a freely accessible location: I had an opportunity that existed then and ended afterwards. That often happens with buildings like these. A locked door remains a locked door, even when photographs of the interior appear online.
The story of gaining access is at Leeuw brewery. This page continues it, with the photographs I was able to return for.
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