15 July 2026 | Tender Won
Tender win: temporary student housing with lasting impact
Eindhoven University of Technology has selected the team of TheNewMakers, VenhoevenCS architecture+urbanism, Campolis, Soontiëns Stadsnatuur and...
The Common Grounds
Eindhoven (NL), 2028
Information
The Common Grounds will soon take shape on the campus of Eindhoven University of Technology: a temporary, sustainable residential neighbourhood comprising 777 modular student homes. The Common Grounds demonstrates how temporary housing can offer all the qualities of a thriving campus neighbourhood: affordable, green, social, sustainable, fast realisation and future-proof.
Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) selected our team comprising VenhoevenCS architecture+urbanism, TheNewMakers, Campolis, Soontiëns Stadsnatuur and AKOR to design, build and manage the student homes. The tender called for temporary student accommodation for a period of fifteen years. The team developed a plan with a permanent quality and ambition that extend well beyond this initial period.
A new campus neighbourhood
A green square facing the Vector building creates a recognizable entrance to The Common Grounds. Communal facilities at ground level serve residents and other campus users, making the new residential part of the daily life of TU/e. The plan connects with existing routes, green spaces and facilities, while also anticipating the future development of the campus.
The buildings form a robust and warm timber ensemble. Together with the outdoor spaces, landscape and communal facilities, they create a cohesive and social campus. Courtyards, squares, verandas and communal spaces allow residents to meet naturally, without making contact feel forced. Active ground floors, clear routes and omni-directional buildings help create social safety and spaces where living, studying and socialising intersect. The buildings form a coherent campus, yet vary sufficiently to give the neighbourhood scale, clear orientation and its own identity.
Living, creating and meeting
The neighbourhood offers a varied mix of rooms in shared homes and private studios. Anyone studying or pursuing a PhD in Eindhoven will soon be able to live there. Each home is affordable and carefully planned with attention to natural light, views of greenery and practical layouts.
Shared facilities enrich everyday campus life. A makerspace provides room to work, build and experiment, while the café-launderette combines an everyday necessity with an informal meeting place. Courtyards, verandas, terraces and squares create a gradual transition from private rooms to communal life.
Adaptable timber modules
The homes are built using TheNewMakers’ modular timber construction system. VenhoevenCS designed the campus neighbourhood using the system’s digital building blocks, ensuring design freedom and industrial manufacturability from the very start.
The modules are produced in the Netherlands under controlled factory conditions, ensuring a high and consistent standard of build quality. The innovative construction system shortens construction time, makes scheduling predictable and minimises disruption on the campus.
The timber modules store carbon, while Open Building principles allow homes and shared spaces to be adapted as needs change. This flexibility suits an international campus, where demand for shared homes, private studios and communal facilities may shift over time.
The modules can be relocated and reused, and the system can be applied to other locations. The Common Grounds is therefore both a design tailored to the TU/e campus and a model for faster, more sustainable student housing elsewhere.
Green, healthy and car-free
Greenery is central to the quality of life in The Common Grounds. A green belt connects the neighbourhood to the wider campus. Communal gardens, squares and green roofs provide shade and cooling, and create habitats for plants and animals. All residents have nearby places offering shade, cover and space to socialise.
The planting and provisions for flora and fauna are designed to support Eindhoven’s local ecology, transforming the neighbourhood into a climate-adaptive and nature-inclusive living environment.
The outdoor spaces are car-free, giving priority to pedestrians and cyclists. Cycle parking, waste management, logistics and maintenance are carefully integrated to ensure the neighbourhood remains safe, well-organised and presentable in everyday use.
The first residents are expected to move in during summer 2027, with the neighbourhood due to be completed in summer 2028.
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| Name: | The Common Grounds |
| Location: | Eindhoven Campus, Hondsheuvel to the north of the Vector building |
| Program: | Approx. 777 student accommodation units (60 self-contained studios and 717 shared rooms) with communal areas and terraces, a makerspace for and by students, a café & launderette. |
| Period: | 2026-2028 |
| Status: | In Progress |
Credits
| VenhoevenCS: | Ton Venhoeven, Eric Thijssen, Hermen Jansen, Hanlin Stuer, Eirini Dionysopoulou, Lois Mae Bouwens, Maria Butnarasu |
| Developer: | TheNewMakers |
| Landscape architect: | Soontiëns Stadsnatuur |
| Main contractor: | AKOR |
| Exploitation / operation: | Campolis |
| Images: | VenhoevenCS architecture+urbanism |