Gemini TU/e

The starting point in designing a renovation for this university building is Gemini’s characteristic existing architecture and the unique spatial layout with different floor heights for research and offices.

Brutalist beginnings

Built in the seventies, Gemini houses the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Eindhoven University of Technology, and was designed by architect and urban designer S.J. van Embden. The building consists of two volumes; a low-rise building for a practical workshop hall and a taller education building for formal academic learning. The twin buildings comprise educational and research facilities, including laboratories.

Stylistic retainers

The design of the new façade remains close to the original, characterised on the south side by balconies and on the north side by a glass curtain wall. Nearby, a wide staircase will be laid over the existing transformer building. This intervention enhances the appearance of the public space significantly, giving the building a second attractive entrance and providing direct access to the first floor, the ‘main level’ of Gemini.

Traffic flow

In accordance with the original design, the first floor will be set up with a public ‘street’, along which the restaurant, the classrooms, labs, workshops and study spaces will be located. The street connects to a larger walkway connecting the entire TU/e Campus. This configuration makes the building more accessible for other university departments to make use of Gemini’s facilities. Higher up in the building, the departments of Mechanical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering both have their own space.

Gemini is one of three buildings on the TU/e campus upgraded by Team V, who were also selected to design the renovation of Neuron Education Centre and the renovation of Atlas, which was completed in 2019.

For more information on the renovation of Gemini, visit the TU/e project website.