Circular Cube, Tilburg University Lecture Hall, Netherlands Public Architecture, Dutch Building Development, Images
Circular Cube Building at Tilburg University
19 Jan 2022
Architect: Powerhouse Company
Location: Tilburg, The Netherlands

Powerhouse Company has completed its design for A Circular Cube, the Netherlands? first mass timber university building. The new energy-neutral building for Tilburg University sits on a small footprint of 33 x 33 meters, and contains 14 lecture rooms, selfstudy areas and a foyer. Set within a wooded landscape, the lecture hall?s timeless form echoes the existing Modernist structures on the campus.

Circular Cube Building, Holland
?Together with our client, we upped our ambition during the design process resulting in a carbon neutral, completely circular, and BREEAM Outstanding design.?
? Janneke van der Velden, Associate Architect at Powerhouse Company

Triumph in Timber

With its predominantly cross-laminated timber structure, the lecture hall is a fully circular pioneer in academic architecture. Tackling significant design challenges, the wooden rib floors span a groundbreaking 9 meters, while meeting the complex demands required by an educational building. The dry construction system employs 4.6 kilometers of timber beams that are demountable for future reuse. Additionally, hanging the limestone façade panels, rather than gluing them, allows the stone to be recycled too.
?Our details look simple and self-evident, but pioneering t...