Eindhoven College & Aloysius de Roosten
Eindhoven College & Aloysius de Roosten
Eindhoven College & Aloysius de Roosten
Two schools with their own educational views
One of the first craft schools in the Netherlands
Eindhoven flourished in the fifties due to the increasing growth of Philips and DAF. Huub van Doorne, founder of DAF and also a board member of this Second Eindhoven Technical School, advocated a separation between theory and practice rooms. By introducing the school workshop, one of the first craft schools in our country was born. The original complex was designed in 1952 by the Geenen & Oskam office, and consists of a 4-storey building intended for theory, 9 practice halls and a few outbuildings.
Your own identity
Aloysius De Roosten & Vakcollege Eindhoven are emphatically two schools with their own educational visions and their own student populations of approximately 400 students each. They have their own building, square and entrance area. Aloysius de Roosten's teaching takes place around four inspiration labs surrounded by four classrooms. Labs that are all about discovery, research, solving and collaboration. Vakcollege Eindhoven is a school where craftsmanship is of paramount importance. The existing practice halls are ideally suited for this.
Synergy
The new building has a central core where both schools share functions such as a central administration, a communal kitchen, a large communal team room and two auditoriums that flow into each other. In fact, both schools are friendly neighbours. In addition, there are various classrooms that are used by both schools: e.g. art & cultural spaces, and technical classrooms. Should there be other insights and/or educational visions in these in the future, the complex will also be able to be used as one building.
Fresh and contemporary while retaining its original character
Fortunately, this type of buildings from the Reconstruction period, which was eligible for demolition until recently, has undergone a strong revaluation. When renovating the 4-storey building and the practice halls, the consideration was always made: “original and therefore preserved” or “functional for contemporary education”.
Examples of preserving characteristic elements include the decorative concrete parapet elements, beautiful Solnhofer floor tiles, existing steel staircases in the practice halls and, of course, Willy Mignot's 1959 sculpture “Blacksmith with Apprentice”. Existing steel frames, on the other hand, have been replaced from a thermal point of view but then retaining the existing lines.
Another part is the light covers in the practice halls. Due to excessive heat load and leaks, system ceilings were hung underneath. New skylights have been installed with limited glass on the desired orientation side. Finally, the closed masonry heads of the 4-storey building have been replaced by glass fronts at ground level. This makes the beautiful concrete table structure more visible, but this intervention is not original.
Aula as a jewel between existing and new
As mentioned, various considerations play a role in renovation. In addition to the restrictions, especially in functionality, there are the gifts. The auditoriums have been centrally located on the border between existing and new. The original exterior façade of characteristic vertical façade columns and large glass fronts has become an indoor façade. A full-length skylight has been created here and the sun plays its game all day long.
Footprint and urban integration
With its powerful historic appearance, the 4-storey existing building remains responsible for the appearance of the ring road. Due to its height, it acts as a noise buffer to the area behind it. The new building is located in the neighborhood in an original way, which is evident in the shape of the footprint. This has to do with the urban design and the direction and twists of existing streets. The facades do not follow the building lines but lie back, creating new spaces for squares. But also because two building heads had to be made visible. This way, around 400 students can enter the school quietly. By maintaining precisely the 5x2 practice halls that are furthest away, the new building is fixed between the existing building. These spaces also create a distance between the existing building and the new building.
The renewed school gives an impulse to the experience of the entire neighborhood.
