Huygens 2.0: sustainable and climate-adaptive

With an important role for the facade

Climate-adaptive, good air quality, a pleasant temperature, plenty of daylight and space, and pleasant acoustics, it typifies the new Huygens Lyceum in Eindhoven. The new building was built on the same site as the old Lyceum, which no longer had these qualities. Even after numerous renovations. In all these aspects, the facade of ALUVO Geveltechniek in combination with the sophisticated glazing from vandaglas plays an important role.

It is scientifically proven that a sustainable and climate-adaptive school building improves student performance and reduces absenteeism among teachers. How different was it in the old lyceum? Even after numerous renovations, the building underperformed and was plagued by technical limitations. Therefore, in the new building, everything was redesigned with great attention to space and light for a pleasant living, learning and working environment. Furthermore, the layout of the building is tailored to the so-called Huygens learning, the school's educational vision with flexible spaces, learning squares, a learning pit, a lecture hall and classrooms of various sizes. A large central and light atrium forms the heart of the new lyceum.

Highly insulating window frames and curtain walls

Commissioned by construction company Moeskops, ALUVO Geveltechniek was already involved during the tender process to shed its light on the facade of the new building. "We proposed the project in highly insulating systems from Schüco," says Perry Hermans, director of ALUVO Geveltechniek. "After all, an optimal indoor climate with a pleasant temperature is important for a healthy learning and working environment, and that starts with a well-insulating building envelope.   

The curtain walls were therefore executed with the high-insulating Schüco FWS 50 HI system, also known for its narrow appearance with struts only 50 mm in view. For their part, we executed the aluminum window frames in the Schüco AWS 70 HI high-insulating window system. All doors were realized in the ADS 70 system and equipped with an anti-panic function according to DIN EN 1125 with a push bar. In addition, we also provided a number of fire-resistant doors in the Schüco ADS 80 system."

Smart glass solutions

Because of a number of specific building envelope requirements, ALUVO Geveltechniek partnered with glass supplier vandaglas in the preliminary project. "The slender Schüco systems already provide plenty of daylight in the base, but this is enhanced by the extra-clear Tripleperform™ SolarControl neutral solar control glazing," says Perry. "This glazing, by the way, is used in different compositions. In addition to solar control, the glass was also fire-resistant in some positions. In addition, on the street side, additional sound-insulating performance was required. This was also solved with the glazing. Vandaglas not only selected the right products for the various positions, but also supported that choice with extensive product reports. And that cooperation led to an optically and technically high-quality end result. Although the window frames are relatively standard, this is precisely why they stand out in the façade image with beautiful typesetting."

Short lead time

In total, ALUVO Facade Technology supplied more than 1,000 square meters of aluminum frames, including 172 pivot windows equipped with a turn restrictor. The sashes can only be opened to a limited extent for safety reasons, but far enough, according to Perry, to allow for proper drainage. "Apart from the window frames, we also delivered approximately 165 m2 of curtain walls, which, divided into several fragments, are all located on the first floor. All the curtain walls and window frames are coated in the color RAL 7016." The biggest challenge was scheduling, says Perry. "We were dealing with a very short lead time and a strict deadline, since the completion date could not be moved up. The school had to be occupied at the beginning of the new school year, but you can trust us with that too. We delivered everything right on schedule." 

Students, staff and faculty have been enjoying the new, sustainable and climate-adaptive Huygens 2.0 since the beginning of the 2023/2024 school year.

Huygens Lyceum Eindhoven

Client: 
Eindhoven Christian Continuing Education Foundation

Architect:
Liag Architects & building consultants

Contractor: 
Moeskops

Façade builder: 
ALUVO Geveltechniek B.V.

System provider: 
Schüco Netherlands

Supplier glass: 
vandaglas b.v.