Greenroofs.com Project of the Week: 8/29/16

Delft University of Technology Library
Delft, The Netherlands
16,146 sf. Greenroof

Project of the Week Description & Details

Also known as TU Delft, Delft University is the largest and oldest public Dutch technical university. Constructed in the 1960s, the large, brutalist concrete Aula or General Assembly Hall from Van den Broek & Bakema overshadowed the site for the new library and the university needed a campus atmosphere which included lawns with flowers and trees where students and professors could meet informally on broad stairs. The original 1997 intensive greenroof over the library was replaced in 2009. The 15,000 m² library contains extensive underground book archives, reading rooms, the university publisher, offices, Trésor for historical books and exhibitions, study spaces, and a book binder and book shop.

Mecanoo designed the Delft University of Technology Library as a sloped plane, extending the grass from the ground to the very edge of the roof. The structure appears to rise out of the earth, covered with soft grass for all sorts of recreation and pierced by its iconic steel cone. The roof is supported by slender, splayed steel columns in a huge hall enclosed with canted, fully glazed walls. Extending forty meters above grade and floodlit at night, the cone acts as a beacon on the campus day and night. The cone houses four levels of traditional study spaces connected by a helical stair. A suspended gallery of books against cobalt blue walls runs right through all four levels. Within the cone, a central void provides daylight from a glazed roof to the internal reading spaces. The new greenroof system by ZinCo Benelux has a fully adhered two layered roofing system on a cellular glass insulation and ZinCo Elastodrain. The lightweight 6 inch deep substrate and lawn roof is freely accessible for walking and lounging, creating a new amenity for the whole campus. Enjoyed throughout the year, the greenroof is converted into a sledding hill in the winter for further recreation.

Year: 2009
Owner: ING Vastgoed
Location: Delft, The Netherlands
Building Type: Educational
Type: Intensive
System: Single Source Provider
Size: 16146 sq.ft.
Slope: 15%
Access: Accessible, Open to Public

Designers/Manufacturers of Record:

General Contractors: Van Oorschot Versloot Bouw & Boele van Eesteren V.O.F.
Structural Engineer: ABT bv
Building Physics Consultant: Adviesbureau Peutz Associes b.v.
Electrical Engineer: Deerns raadgevende ingenieurs b.v.
Mechanical Engineer: Ketel raadgevende ingenieurs b.v.
Architect: Mecanoo
Greenroof System: ZinCo Benelux
Contractors: Leven op Daken, Mastum Daksystemen, Van der Tol

View the PROJECT PROFILE to see ALL of the Photos and Additional Information about this particular project in The International Greenroof & Greenwall Projects Database.

Project of the Week Video Feature

Watch the Delft University of Technology Library Project of the Week Video below or see it on our GreenroofsTV channel on YouTube:

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