cooling building for the campus

Due to an increase in the number of faculty buildings on the campus of the University of Twente, the demand for cooling has increased as well. The existing cooling building, which controls the cooling circle, is no longer sufficient in terms of capacity and has to be expanded. Careful consideration was given to an ideal synergy between use, context and reuse of materials.

The existing two-storey cooling building is located behind the Horst complex and is located between the historic Roombeek and the cycle path. It has a concrete hull and is clad with steel gratings. With a doubling of the installations and a number of constraints from the context, the design mediates between its environment and its utilitarian function.

The ground floor of the cooling building follows the landscape lines of the Roombeek and the meandering cycle path. The upper levels are designed based on the logic of the cooling machines and conform to the orthogonal pattern of the campus. This results in a volume that has a fold on both long sides.

The existing concrete hull will be retained to which the expansion will fit in seamlessly. The volume is completely covered with wooden vertical slats. The distance between the slats is adjusted to the underlying program. For example, it is more closed on the ground floor and opens in the superstructure for the suction of fresh air for the dry coolers.