Building period Aurora: 2013 - 2016 (Design: Office Winhov with office haratori in cooperation with BDG Architecten Almere)
Upon the design for the new Technische Hogeschool in the 1950s it was decided not to realize any student accommodation on the site. A break with this tradition occurred only very recently. TU/e aims at a lively and versatile 24/7 campus, and student accommodation forms part of this pursuit. On the TU/e Campus 2 residential tower blocks can be found which can jointly accommodate some 750 students.
The new tower, Aurora, which is owned by housing corporation Woonbedrijf, has 303 units, which are mainly intended for accommodating international students at TU/e, both for short and long stays. The dwellings command a magnificent view of the campus, the river Dommel and the sports fields. Around the residential tower blocks, along the Dommel, a park open to the general public has been laid out which provides space for sports and relaxation
Aurora was built as an addition to the existing ensemble of high-rise buildings along the river Dommel from the 1960s. That ensemble forms a visual line on the campus site from the Vertigo building in the southwest corner, along the Atlas, Luna and Aurora buildings towards the northeast. Just like Luna, Aurora’s building volume has a slender appearance thanks to the clever, staggered ‘bayonet-like cut’ of the map.
The façades of the high-rise cluster consist of prefabricated, concrete sandwich elements in a contiguous, rectangular grid. The floors, bathrooms and installations were also prefabricated, so that the building could be constructed within a very short period of time.