New temporary building behind EEMCS

TU Delft is building a temporary academic building called Flux on the Cornelis Drebbelweg, behind the tower of the Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science (EEMCS) building. Flux will house large teaching halls to accommodate about 730 students. There will also be 20 study places. 

The building is needed in light of the forecast by Campus Real Estate and Facility Management (CREFM) that TU Delft will grow to 31,000 students by 2028. The site on which Flux will be built used to be parking places. These have been moved to the P5 parking garage (Rotterdamseweg) on the edge of the campus. 

The teaching halls will be suitable for ‘mixed didactics’. This means that they can be used for a combination of ‘normal’ lectures and joint project work in groups. “We see that after Covid, there is much demand for examination spaces,” says Space Utilisation Asset Manager Paul Uiterdijk. “Teachers want to give online lectures, but do interim exams. This is why the halls will also be suitable for exams.” 

At the moment, the only things visible on the construction site are the foundation piles. When the foundations are ready at the end of January, work can start on assembling the floors, walls and roof. “This will be done quickly,” says Central Campus Programme Manager Godard Kloos. “The frame and the exterior walls will be up in a couple of weeks. This is a huge advantage of these types of temporary modular buildings.” 

The floorboards come from the Olympic Games

Flux will be as sustainable as possible. There will be solar panels on the roof, the furniture is refurbished, and the floorboards were used in the 2012 Olympic Games in London. The contractor who is coordinating the construction of Flux also worked for the Games. Most of the building is reusable. “The only question is whether the plaster interior walls can be removed intact or if they will have to be demolished,” says Kloos. 

Uiterdijk says that Flux should really have been ready in September 2022. “But we incurred delays because of staff and material shortages in the construction sector and because the contract had to be tendered in the EU. The planning now is that the building is ready in September 2023.”

According to the zoning plan, Flux will be at this location for up to 10 years. TU Delft can then move the building to another location on campus or it can go to another tenant. After the 10 years, the location behind EEMCS will be used for a different purpose, such as a park or for shops.