DIFFER Eindhoven nominated for the Dirk Roosenburg Architecture Award

Booster Blog

differ eindhoven

DIFFER Eindhoven (Dutch Institute for Fundamental Energy Research) by Ector Hoogstad Architecten is nominated for a prestigious Dutch award: The Dirk Roosenburg Award.

Dirk Roosenburg Awards

Dirk Roosenburg (1887-1962) was an architect who worked on many architectural assignments for Philips, which was founded in Eindhoven, and therefore has largely influenced the way Eindhoven looks and feels nowadays.  Every other year, the Dirk Roosenburg award is given to a remarkable and inspiring project within Eindhoven that adds value to its surroundings and, thus, the city. This year, 9 projects have been nominated, under which DIFFER.

DIFFER EINDHOVEN

DIFFER Eindhoven is amongst the nominees because of the fact that the building blends in so well with the academic environment of the TU Eindhoven. Even though the façade is different from the older academic buildings, the horizontal volume blends in perfectly with the campus environment. 

The interior design is all about connecting people with each other and with the main purpose of the building: experimenting. Offices and supporting facilities are situated around and above the two main areas in which experiments take place. Meeting other people within the building is stimulated though the use of stairs and voids.

The core of the building, being the area where the experiments take place on the ground floor, is transparent so that everyone from the outside the building or from another area within the building feels connected to the main purpose of the building. The transparent ground floor is a signature of Ector Hoogstad Architecten, as it can also be found in other buildings designed by them.

Others on the nominee list are: International School Campus Eindhoven, Spilcentrum ‘t Hofke, Police Station Woensel, and 5 other projects.