Paul De Ruiter Architects

Langeveld Building

Langeveld Building
© Aiste Rakauskaite

Langeveld Building

Paul de Ruiter Architects

LOCATION
Rotterdam, The Netherlands

CATEGORY
University

AREA
8748 M²

YEAR
2022

STRUCTURAL ENGINEERING
Bam Advies En Engineering

MAIN CONTRACTOR
Bam Bouw En Techniek

PROJECT MANAGEMENT
Abcnova

BUILDING PHYSICS
Lbp|sight

MANUFACTURERS
Pfleiderer, Unilin, Bluestyle Collection, Ecophon, Eurocoustic, Faroni Solid Solo, Verosol, Verwol

The Langeveld building of Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR) is one of the most sustainable educational buildings in the world with a BREEAM outstanding certificate.

Langeveld Building
© Aiste Rakauskaite
Langeveld Building
© Aiste Rakauskaite

This building, designed by Paul de Ruiter Architects and executed by BAM Bouw en Techniek is energy positive and runs on the wind, sun, and earth.

POWERED BY NATURE

Through a smart and integral design strategy, the new educational building is energy-positive. To achieve this, a revolutionary new natural ventilation principle has been applied, which runs on wind and solar energy.

Langeveld Building
© Aiste Rakauskaite
Langeveld Building
© Aiste Rakauskaite

The two solar chimneys on the south façade create a vertical shaft in which the warm waist air will heat up even further creating an upward draft. On top of these shafts, a venturi roof, aircraft-winged shape, forces the wind to accelerate and therefore creates pressure sucking even harder on the solar chimneys.

These forces pull fresh air into another vertical shaft. On top of this fresh air shaft, a cold-water shower forces the air to drop down in the shaft creating a constant fresh flow of air in the building.

Langeveld Building
© Aiste Rakauskaite
Langeveld Building
© Aiste Rakauskaite

This naturally driven system uses 85% less energy than a traditional ventilation system while providing much more fresh air than is usual in buildings. This ensures a pleasant indoor climate for the multifunctional building.

The heat in de summer gets stored in the deep earth to be used to heat in the winter and in de winter the cold air gets stored in the earth to cool in summer. This long-term storage even further reduces energy. The solar cells on the roof make the building energy-positive.

Langeveld Building
© Aiste Rakauskaite
Langeveld Building
© Aiste Rakauskaite

ARCHITECTURE MEETS NATURE

The building’s transparent facades create a natural connection with the surrounding campus and allow daylight to penetrate deep into the building.

Lots of greenery and wooden detailing, including the atrium construction made of real wooden tree trunks, create a warm, pleasant experience and natural fresh air.

Langeveld Building
© Aiste Rakauskaite
Langeveld Building
© Aiste Rakauskaite

A characteristic feature is the green study environment and the wooden tree house in the atrium. By using a biophilic design, nature is brought inside. This way the university is creating an environment that contributes to the well-being and health of the students.

CIRCULAR EDUCATIONAL BUILDING

The new university building is circular in construction. This means that as much as possible recycled materials have been used. Demolition materials from other buildings are reused, and the material used are biobased.

Langeveld Building
© Aiste Rakauskaite
Langeveld Building
© Aiste Rakauskaite

All the materials of the building used in the new educational building have been given an identity which is recorded in a digital material passport. This passport will give inside the future material potential for reuse.

This has resulted in a BREEAM- outstanding certification. Only less than 1% of buildings in the Netherlands have this top qualification according to the world’s leading sustainability assessment method.

Langeveld Building
© Aiste Rakauskaite


Langeveld Building
Langeveld Building
Langeveld Building
Langeveld Building
Langeveld Building
Langeveld Building


Langeveld Building
Langeveld Building
Langeveld Building
Langeveld Building


Langeveld Building
Langeveld Building
Langeveld Building

Paul De Ruiter Architects
T +31 20 6263244
Paul De Ruiter Architects
Valschermkade 36-D, 1059 CD Amsterdam, Netherlands