University Fontys Stappegoor

Enabling students easy flow-through to the next educational level

Different levels of students will soon be taking classes at the expanded and completely transformed Stappegoor campus in Tilburg. The addition of two new buildings will allow the university to cluster all three educational levels in a single campus, fostering greater interaction within the student body and allowing students to move from one level to the next with greater ease. Paul de Ruiter Architects were commissioned for the new designs.

Themes: education, interior, energy neutral

Bringing nature indoors

The various educational buildings will sit amid and be connected by a landscaped park, creating a visually appealing, vibrant and comfortable environment for students, teachers and university staff alike. Supporting this ambience will be a new sustainable school building that brings nature indoors.

The durable natural materials used in the building’s construction will ensure its seamless blend into the campus’s new green environment. Natural ventilation and the building’s thoughtful layout will help to create an indoor climate conducive to interaction and collaboration.

Creativity and Information Technology under one roof

The 20-meter-high educational building will consist of three sections of equal size, and provide sufficient accommodation for the 3,500-plus students of Fontys School of Information and Communication Technology and the Academy for Creative Industries. Natural light will reach into the farthest corners of the building, courtesy of a large glass-roofed atrium.

Inside the atrium, at the very heart of the building, sits an expansive wooden staircase that leads to the lecture rooms of the two faculties on the first floor. The staircases’ spacious and inviting steps will serve additionally as a vast expanse for social seating, turning the atrium into a natural meeting point that also offers room for official events and presentations.

The second floor is devoted to “dialogue”, and consists of a light-filled indoor court that, along with the coffee bar, provides an open space for studying and meetings involving the student body, staff and faculty visitors.

The adjacent “open factory” of the Academy for Creative Industries corresponds perfectly with this floor’s primary function.

Fontys University’s new campus will open in 2019.

Project details

Information

Total floor area	10.000 m²
Project	Educational building
Start of design	July 2016
Project completion	January 2020
Location	Stappegoor campus, Tilburg

Project Team

Client	Fontys University
Design	Paul de Ruiter Architects
Project architects	Paul de Ruiter and Noud Paes
Project team	Julius Klatte, Mark Homminga, Ronald Hageman, Milda Kulviciute, Kamila Glodowska, Tim Bakker, Marieke Sijm, Marlous Vriethoff, Raymond van Sabben
Construction consultant	Van Rossum
Structural engineering, fire safety and installations consultant	Nelissen

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