Echo, TU Delft
Designed together with UNStudio, Amsterdam, 2017 and rendered by plo.mp
Designed to meet the Delft University of Technology's need for versatile extra teaching space, Echo is a new inter-faculty building that transcends current learning environments.
This additional building for TU Delft will house seven new teaching rooms, many of which can be divided into separate spaces to reflect the diversity of education methods and study styles. Each of these teaching rooms have been designed based on the current and future needs of the lecturers and students at this leading Dutch university, enabling maximum flexibility for the constantly changing world of learning.
Designed to be a future-proof and active campus, Echo not only connects with the surrounding public space, it also defines it.
Solid and sustainable
Designed as much as possible according to the principles of circularity, the Echo design fulfills TU Delft’s progressive sustainability ambitions. Equipped with solar panels, effective insulation and thermal storage, among other features, the building will be energy-neutral.
The continuous glass facades are interrupted horizontally by deep aluminum awnings that keep out excess solar heat, while climbing plants can also be grown along cables connecting these canopies, forming a subtle green façade that filters daylight.
To prevent excess sunlight penetration, a dynamic light barrier is used to provide indoor sun protection, and overheating is prevented by a combination of sun protection and the low solar penetration factor of the glass.
Flexible teaching rooms
The seven teaching rooms have been designed with flexibility in mind. The focus will be on medium-sized and large teaching rooms, accommodating between 150 and 700 people. These spaces will be adaptable, with the largest lecture hall able to be divided into three separate rooms.
In addition to these, there will also be a so-called ‘case-study’ room, which will be particularly suitable for motivational teaching/interaction between lecturers and students, as well as four-level rooms for project-based teaching, each accommodating almost 70 people.
Echo will provide space for lectures and tutorials, group work, project-based teaching, debates and self-study. In total, it will offer around 1,700 teaching areas, including study spaces.
Additional facilities
As well as offering additional facilities for teaching, it is important that Echo is also an attractive place for people to meet. The extended opening hours and high-quality food and beverage facilities, which offer a variety of seating areas, will help facilitate this. In addition, the need for sufficient bicycle parking facilities will also be taken into account, with an underground cycle park included in the building’s basement.
Prime campus location
The Echo building will sit in a central location on the TU Delft campus. Positioned in its Stevin area, Echo will be adjacent to the renovated building used by the Mathematics and Computer Science departments of the EEMCS faculty. The Stieltjesweg student accommodation is just north of the site, with food and beverage and other facilities nearby, including a SPAR University mini-supermarket.
The development of the Stevin area and the construction of Echo are in line with the campus strategy: realising a campus in which the buildings, facilities and layout of public areas help ensure that TU Delft maintains and expands its leading position in the world university rankings.
Client
TU Delft
Location
Delft
Building surface
8,844 m2 GFA
Building volume
ca. 53,000m3
Building site
ca. 4,000m2
Program
Interfaculty Education facility for all faculties including education spaces, lecture hall, study spots and restaurant.
Status
Completed
Team: Ben van Berkel, Arjan Dingsté, Marianthi Tatari, Jaap-Willem Kleijwegt, Ariane Stracke, Piotr Kluszczynski, Thys Schreij, Mitchel Verkuijlen,
Bogdan Chipara, Krishna Duddumpudi, Fabio Negozio, Ryan Henriksen, Shangzi Tu, Xinyu Wang, Marian Mihaescu