Marga Klompé Building: Innovating the next generation of sustainable learning

The background

Established in 1927, Tilburg University is an international multidisciplinary university specialising in humanities and social sciences. With over 19,000 students, Tilburg is an inclusive and engaged academic community dedicated to sustainable and effective learning for all.

The project and building was named in honour of the first female Cabinet Minister of the Netherlands, Marga Klompé, a courageous, forward-thinking and pioneering visionary who was one of the architects behind the Dutch welfare state. The goal of the Marga Klompé project was to create a highly energy-efficient building that lends itself to delivering an inspiring learning and working environment while enhancing the university's educational infrastructure.

In line with Tilburg’s unwavering commitment to creating a greener learning environment, the Marga Klompé building is Europe’s first ever fully wooden university project. As a result of the chosen material, this was a significantly challenging project with several intricacies to navigate and obstacles to overcome. Kinly was appointed as Tilburg University’s trusted technology advisor to bring its sustainability vision to life through consultation and the design and integration of cutting edge AV solutions across the entire Marga Klompé building.

The solution

The Marga Klompé project is a true demonstration of how sustainability of the highest standard can be achieved through close collaboration. Despite the complexities of integrating technology into a fully wooden building, the project was delivered in just six-months.

Careful considerations surrounding mounting, sound, lighting, and cameras were required owing to the wooden architecture. On the ground floor sits an impressive 450-person auditorium showcasing a staggering 18m wide x 2.7m high Absen LED video wall. This was expertly integrated to deliver an optimal viewing experience for every participant in the room.  The auditorium offers lecturers the flexibility to present content from their own devices by choosing pre-programmed scenarios to either split or clone the display. This key feature ensures that all participants have an equal experience, no matter where they are seated.

Tilburg University now benefits from the option to host high quality productions and automated lecture scenarios through its control room using Blackmagic and Canon for mixing and effects, camera control and shading. These events can be live streamed, recorded and managed through Panopto's content management platform. In addition to the auditorium, a 100-person lecture room functions as an extra-large space that operates in exactly the same way with the same technology, on a slightly smaller scale.

Across the second, third and fourth floors are eight 40-person rooms and four 24-person rooms. Each are fitted with an Epson projector solution and a custom-made mount to counteract vibrations from the nearby railway and wooden construction.

An integral part of the project was ensuring that lecturers can get classes up and running with the click of a button, despite the integration of a myriad of complex technologies. All desks have BYOD video conferencing capabilities using UCC platforms including Microsoft Teams and Zoom. They are equipped with a document camera to show physical objects and writing, as well as optimal audio pickup and interference-free transmission. 

All rooms have recording capabilities which are centrally managed and distributed to students through the content management platform. On every floor, the integration of innovative digital signage technology is used for wayfinding, lecture schedules and university content. In addition, the GUI solution is standardised across all rooms, creating an intuitive user experience.

Lastly, to further optimise the sustainable learning experience, all rooms make use of intelligent GUDE power management which is connected to the building management system. This means that everything, including the AV equipment, automatically shuts down when they are not in use, dramatically reducing energy consumption and CO2 emissions. 

The outcome

Working closely with Tilburg University, Kinly successfully delivered a state-of-the-art facility that has transformed the way the university operates from a technological perspective, while also providing a futureproofed, sustainable and easy to use building.

The completed Marga Klompé project comprises fourteen lecture halls and additional study spaces to accommodate 1,000 students. The project began on 1 August 2023 and was completed on 29 January 2024. Crucial to delivering this project on time and without any snags was the 12-week consultancy phase in which we were able to mitigate risks by making product and design decisions well before implementation, as well as rigorously testing the solutions for performance, reliability and longevity.

Sustainability was at the heart of this project and Tilburg University pushed the boundaries of the possible to deliver on its targets. As a renewable material, the wood building has a far less energy-intensive manufacturing process than steel and concrete, which contributes to considerably lower CO2 emissions. In addition, the building has been insulated using recycled jeans, textile waste that would otherwise be discarded. The cotton provides an innovative and circular way to insulate the building and has also worked to elevate acoustics.

We successfully met Tilburg’s ambitious sustainability goals using AVIXA standards and our own sustainability by design approach. This has led to the Marga Klompé building being awarded a BREEAM Outstanding sustainability certificate, an environmental assessment method for buildings where an Outstanding rating is the highest level achievable.