Flux is a relatively young building on campus. It was completed at the end of 2014 and officially taken into use a year later. The building houses the departments of Electrical Engineering and Applied Physics and is used daily by hundreds of staff members and students.

The construction of Flux cost the university 58 million euros. Yet just ten years after completion, serious defects have already emerged in the façade, requiring additional investment in the building. The university has held contractor BAM liable.

The glass panels in the façade appear not to be properly secured and have begun to slowly shift. Preventive measures have been taken to prevent panels from falling out, but to truly resolve the problem, a complete renovation of the façade is required.

Loose glass panels

The façade consists of approximately 9,700 square meters of glass panels. “In 2024, during an inspection of the façade, we identified defects,” says Ivo Jongsma, spokesperson for the university. “We then investigated this further with specialists. In doing so, we found that some of the aluminum profiles had deformed.”

No glass panels have fully come loose yet, but the shifting does pose a risk. For that reason, after the defects were discovered, the university had a preventive solution implemented. Thousands of small aluminum plates have been attached to the façade and are now keeping the glass panels in place.

Previous issues

This is not the first time construction company BAM has been in the news for negative reasons. In 2017, a parking garage built by BAM collapsed at Eindhoven Airport. The incident occurred two weeks before completion and at a moment when no construction workers were present. An investigation showed that the floors were not strong enough.

A similar floor construction had been used by BAM in the Flux building. “At the time, this was thoroughly examined and meets the guidelines,” says Annelien Besijn, communications officer at Campus & Facilities.

Tender

The university has now launched a European tender for the renovation project. It is not yet clear who will carry out the renovation or when it will start, but the project is considered urgent.

The north façade is the most urgent and must be completed by October 2026 at the latest due to the construction of the new cleanroom next to Flux. The full renovation is expected to continue until early 2028, according to Besijn.

Because Flux has a double façade and only the outer layer needs to be renovated, Jongsma expects the renovation to have limited impact on education and research activities in the building.

This article was translated using AI-assisted tools and reviewed by an editor.