The TU/e’s main building, ‘Atlas’, was reopened on Thursday afternoon.
After a major three-year renovation, the building has been restored to its original look at its opening in 1963. Today’s Atlas, however, also boasts several technological innovations – especially sustainable ones.
With 16 floors and approximately a thousand employees, Atlas will house two faculties – Industrial Design and Industrial Engineering & Innovation Sciences.
Samuel van Embden, a prominent architect in Dutch reconstruction, designed the original building to look like a factory complex, a nod to the TU/e’s industrial origins. Its large hall, which van Embden dubbed ‘The Cathedral’, has the same decor and even atmosphere as it did in the sixties.
The university’s central reception is now also located inside Atlas, as well as a number of catering establishments.
Besides a smart glass facade and windows that cool the building overnight and purify the air, Atlas also uses energy-saving lighting and heating and has no gas connection. Two-thirds of the electricity the building uses come from its own campus, including solar panels.
Pupils from the International School Eindhoven joined the Mechanical Engineering department’s robot HERO to open the newly-renovated building.
Source: Studio040
Translation: Nicola W
