Delft Faculty of Aerospace Engineering Technische Universiteit
Subtle transformation The Faculty of Aerospace Engineering at Delft University of Technology, is a classic example of 1960’s modern architecture, and displays a striking contrast between its substructure and its upper storeys. The Faculty includes an aircraft hangar, which previously stood in a rather isolated position. Now, however, the substructure of the main building is connected to the hangar – the heart of the building, after all – via an extension in the form of a three-storey education and research centre. A corridor now leads to the hangar from the existing entrance in the arcade beneath the upper storeys. We believe that the corridors of a building are where the most important contacts take place – in educational institutions as elsewhere – and this conviction guided our decision to situate the most important public areas along this ‘stoa’ (the roofed colonnade which provided space for shops and shelter in ancient Greek open markets). Spaces for office are situated behind it: compactly and introspectively clustered around the inner courtyard of the new extension. The open fourth side forms the transparent ‘stoa’. On the ground floor are the restaurant and coffee bar, flanking the courtyard and with their access routes passing through it. The central location of the restaurant, the connection with the hangar and the extrovert and open frontal facade all emphasise the public nature of the ‘stoa’. To reinforce the identity of the faculty as a whole, the new structures had to form an integrated, organic whole with the existing buildings, and not become a ‘fleet’ of separate blocks. The hangar, with its forward-springing dynamic, together with the use of innovative construction techniques, create an integrated step-by-step metamorphosis between the disparate architectural elements. It is comparable with the subtle and gradual changes in skin texture which can be seen between, for example, the palm and the back of a hand. The roof profile falls in two steps to the same height as the portal of the hangar. The existing blue entrance portico is echoed in the blue rafters of the new building. These support the roof slats, which are transformed at first floor level into an effective and dynamic sunscreen for the new conference hall. The facades, with their rhythmic vertical accents, are sealed with anthracite-coloured cement-bonded fibreboard. The vertical seams are accentuated with raised aluminium elements, creating a threedimensional relief effect. The windows which they enclose change in scale storey by storey, so that the ground floor, which needs to catch the most light, has the largest windows. The construction of the lowest storey from textured aluminium panels maximises the play of light and shade, and this lively effect is emphasised still further by rotating the panels, so that a checkerboard pattern of diversely lit surfaces arises.
The accommodation areas do not have lowered ceilings, giving them maximum headroom, and ingenious use is made of the warmth-retaining qualities of the concrete floor as an element of climate control. All utilities (ventilation, electrics and data connections) are concentrated in a single functional shaft from the corridors to the outer facade. This shaft doubles as an ornamental lighting feature so that ‘uplight’, both literally and figuratively, gives the ceiling a greater feeling of space.
Commissioner Technische Universiteit Delft afdeling vastgoed
Sort Offices- and educational spaces restaurant
Builder Van Oosten & de Vette Bouwmaatschappij
Square metres 5200 m2
Project architect Marco Romano Rudy Uytenhaak Design team Michaela Brethauer Martin Dalenberg Martin de Graaf Jan Olthuis Martijn Pietersen
Construction costs € 6,200,000 incl. installations Start Design 2000 Completion 2002
situation
second floor
first floor
ground floor