TU Delft Campus Midden

How do you transform a single-function campus area into an inspiring urban neighbourhood?

Delft

Delft University of Technology is one of the world’s best universities. Staying at the top requires an environment where knowledge exchange, cross-fertilisation and innovation can flourish. That calls for a campus able to evolve with the current and future spatial needs and qualities of the university.

The existing central area of the campus has already undergone a major metamorphosis from its original design. Yet many places still feel like an industrial estate: closed façades, lots of asphalt and few people on the street. There are few places where you feel inspired, would want to live or meet up with others.

Through our vision for the area and the accompanying landscape plan for Campus Midden, the campus is being transformed into a mixed-use district for working, living and learning, where innovation and cross- fertilisation are central.

How do you increase the chance of productive encounters between the different campus users?

Our vision for the area has these important elements:

• Functional mix: research and education, but also densification and intensification with places for working, living and relaxing.

• Quality, and inviting encounters: creating places where people want to be, and want to stay.

• Future-proofing: greening and making more sustainable

The Landscape Plan further develops our vision for the area, based on the goal of greening the outdoor space and making it more sustainable. It provides specific solutions for the design and organisation of the greenery, the quality of stay, mobility and experimental space.

Landscape Ecology principles, Richard T.T. Forman (1996)

Analysis of places where the quality of stay invites buzz

Different uses over time

Landscape ecology principles, according to Richard T. T. Forman (1996):
1. Variation within a habitat: requires different types of places
2. Softening barriers: requires that roads and watercourses that easily be crossed
3. Connecting clusters: requires a fine-meshed network for pedestrians

Analysis of places where the quality of stay invites buzz:
1. Staying
2. Connecting
3. Greening
4. Densifying

Different use over time
During the week and during the weekend

Christiaan Huygensweg: Currently, this street is mainly for cars, with parking spaces on the street and cycle paths to the side. The ambition is to make it a car-free street for cycling, with a lot more greenery.

A: The green channels form the main structure of the campus and connect it with the surroundings

B: The urban orientation provides a wealth of different meeting places

C: The qualities of Buzz, Hush and Fuzz determine the zoning of the building sites and guarantee the quality of stay

A + B + C: Map of the framework for the structure of Campus Midden

A mixed urban neighbourhood where living, working and learning enhance each other

EWI Clusterplein: The inner area is currently a place for parking (behind EWI, Feldmansweg), car access streets and logistics. The aim is to transform the inner area with spaces for people, squares, gardens, informal sports areas and meeting places.

Stay & Meet: a campus with high-quality places for meeting, interacting, creativity and sport

Green & Ecological: a campus that focuses on biodiversity and climate resilience

Mobility & Connection: a campus that is attractive to slow-moving traffic

Experiment: a campus with places for research and public experimentation

Campus Midden is becoming a greener, more sustainable and more inviting campus

Mekelpark: Currently used mainly as a traffic axis with space for events at certain times, but it is often barely used during the day and week. Although called a ‘park’, it lacks variety or quality in the landscape, which is mainly grass.

TU Delft Campus Midden

Every day on the campus of TU Delft, academics, students and staff work on groundbreaking education and research. As innovation results from different campus members exchanging ideas with each other, the university can benefit enormously from a campus that invites people to meet and collaborate: a place where people want to come, and don’t want to leave. The main challenge here is how to transform the campus from a single-function working area into a mixed-use urban neighbourhood where living, working and learning enhance each other. Currently, there are few places where it is pleasant to be outdoors; more often than not, logistics and access dominate the campus layout. These places in particular can be made much more attractive! With a framework based on green structures, urban hierarchy and the mixing of different functions, TUDelft can use future developments in such a way that they contribute to making the campus more inviting for (new) residents, scientists and visitors from the neighbourhood. The quality of the outdoor space will be improved by focusing on pedestrians and cyclists, and a significant increase in greenery. The latter will also contribute enormously to the ecology, climate adaptability and sustainability of the campus. By densifying and adding a mix of functions to the campus, it also becomes a pleasant place to be outside working hours. In this way, our vision for the area strengthens the university neighbourhood as a city district of Delft.