Mechanical Engineering

Lecture halls, rooms and library
Former University building, part of the Mechanical Engineering complex of the Delft Institute of Technology, built in 1911 to a design by government architect J.A.W. Vrijman. Among other things, the building contained lecture halls, offices for professors and assistants, and the library. In 1921, the west wing was extended with a fourth floor and a temporary building for aero- and hydrodynamics was built. In 1942, a fourth floor was added to the central wing. In the second half of the 1950s, the department moved to a new building on Mekelweg. In the 1990s, the University building was converted into an apartment complex.

Mechanical Technology, Mechanical Engineering and Shipbuilding
On the main section along Nieuwelaan, there are three wings connected to one another. The original plan provided for three floors. The west wing was extended with a fourth floor in 1921, followed by the addition of a fourth floor to the central wing in 1942. The main section housed the offices of the professors and assistants, a library and meeting rooms. The library with a reading room on the first floor, above the main entrance, was a pleasant space where students could consult their books. On the ground floor, the Mechanical Technology lecture halls were located on the right and on the left were the Mechanical Engineering lecture halls, followed by the Mechanical Engineering laboratory with a boiler house and appurtenances. The two wings, which were later extended with a fourth floor, housed the drawing offices of the Mechanical Engineering department. There were three large lecture halls on the first floor of the east wing. The drawing offices and three lecture halls for Shipbuilding were located on the second floor of this wing. A separate building was also built on Nieuwelaan, for a museum of ship models.

In addition, the attic contained numerous models of windmills and machines to demonstrate the technological development of the times. A letter from 1908, which was sent by Vrijman to the Minister to obtain approval for a more expensive structure, shows that the entire building had to be built on a slab of reinforced concrete, because the soil composition was insufficiently homogenous to simply place foundation slabs under the façade.