This week, the so-called “harvesting of materials” from the former Logistics & Environment building on the south side of the TU Delft campus begins. This also marks the start of the construction of another building: the Physics education and research building. In this new building, various departments of the faculty of Applied Sciences (AS), which are currently located elsewhere in the middle of the campus, will be housed.
Materials from the old Logistics & Environment building, such as concrete, will be stored for future reuse in any construction project. This reuse of materials aligns with Heijmans’ sustainability vision and TU Delft’s ambition to become a CO2-neutral, circular, and climate-adaptive campus by 2030.
Second life
In awarding the contract, Heijmans and TU Delft placed great importance on research into the reuse of demolition materials for a second life, given their joint sustainability ambitions. For example, a total of 1000 tons of concrete is expected to be harvested from the existing building. The harvested concrete is transported in “chunks” to a supplier for concrete mortar and prepared for reuse.
In addition to reusing concrete, TU Delft will also reuse various installation components, such as wooden frames that are harvested.
Concrete processing
Concrete is one of the most widely used building materials in the world but is very environmentally unfriendly. The production of cement, a key component of concrete, releases large amounts of CO2. However, concrete, like almost all other materials, can be processed and recycled. Even then, it retains excellent properties, such as for the load-bearing capacity of a building. The cement that “glues” sand and gravel together is essentially loosened and extracted in powder form.
Implementation
In mid-2023, TU Delft awarded the contract to Heijmans Utiliteit, part of Royal Heijmans N.V. (“construction company Heijmans”), for the new construction of the Physics faculty building to develop the technical design. The project is being carried out by Bouwcombinatie Physics, consisting of Heijmans Utiliteit B.V. and SPIE Building Solutions B.V. Construction will take approximately three years. Physics is expected to be operational in 2027. After completion, Heijmans will also handle the maintenance of the new education and research building for at least three years.
New Physics building
The new building will include research spaces such as physical laboratories, chemical and bio labs. It will also contain office spaces, educational spaces, practical rooms, and general facilities. This development is part of the area development on TU Delft campus South. This area will be further developed in the coming years into a vibrant environment with new facilities for education and research, where meeting and collaboration are encouraged. This involves collaboration within TU Delft and cross-pollination with various companies on the TU Delft campus.
Want to know more about the new Physics building? Visit https://www.tudelftcampus.nl/projects/physics-newbuild/
