Space for new development on the Strijp-T business park in Eindhoven

Strijp-T business park in Eindhoven, seen towards Strijp-S. The TQ building is visible in the center. © Paul Raats/Strijp-T

EINDHOVEN - The new construction possibilities on the Strijp-T industrial estate in Eindhoven are being significantly scaled back. But even in a new zoning plan there remains enough space for new commercial buildings for innovative companies. Owner/developer GEVA BV expects there will continue to be strong demand for them.

Michel Theeuwen 23-02-21

However, GEVA BV will not build new buildings at its own risk, says project leader Boudie Hoogedeure of Strijp-T at the company from Best. Only once the zoning plan has been adopted by the municipality will he start looking for companies that want to establish themselves in a new building on the former Philips site. "And then we will look with those candidates for the best solution, either in their own building or together with others. Given the speed at which everything is happening at Strijp-T, that could well be on the agenda in the short term. Because in Eindhoven there is currently a shortage of good-quality business space."

Existing buildings almost completely rented

GEVA BV held the first digital meeting last week for entrepreneurs and local residents about the new zoning plan. In the coming weeks more online meetings will follow for the neighborhoods around Strijp-T. The existing buildings such as TQ on the site are virtually full, according to Hoogedeure. GEVA BV is also putting the finishing touches to the leasing of the Glass Laboratory TY, which will be renovated at the end of this year.

Strijp-T business park seen from Strijp-S. On the right in the foreground the Gloeilampplantsoen. © Paul Raats/Strijp-T

The starting point remains that Strijp-T is and will remain an industrial site. The existing rights of companies such as Smurfit Kappa, Draka and KMWE and the newer Settels Savenije are respected. The biomass plant also retains its place in the plan. Therefore residential development - except for the twelve existing houses on the Bezuidenhoutseweg - is also not possible. ,,But the old plan was intended for one company, Philips, with heavy industry, such as the machine factory where KMWE is now located. We no longer want to add new heavy industry in the middle of the city, so we are changing the zoning for the rest of the site. That way more light industry, often in an office-like environment, can also be added. Factories and offices are, moreover, increasingly intermingled," said Hoogedeure.

Strijp-T project leader at GEVA BV, Boudie Hoogedeure, on the roof of the Glass Laboratory TY. © Sem Wijnhoven/DCI Media

The starting point for the new plan is the innovative manufacturing sector, from education and design to production. At Strijp‑T there are already, among others, Fontys ICT in building TQ, design agency Accenture (formerly Van Berlo) in Philips’ former power station, and the producers Settels Savenij (pump building TAQ and new construction) and 3D-printer manufacturer Additive Industries.

In the old zoning plan almost the entire site of some 25 hectares could be built on, including the roads and parking lots. "That yields so many square meters that it's questionable whether you should want that, for example considering the traffic that that will attract," said Hoogedeure. And so GEVA BV proposes to limit the building area to blocks along the four roads. "The most important thing is that we make room for more greenery, because Strijp-T should become an attractive, park-like working environment. Where there is also room for new construction."

Building TR - the Innovation Powerhouse, named after its former function: that of a power station - on Strijp-T in Eindhoven. © Michel Theeuwen

That space is mainly on the outside, for example on the Achtseweg-Zuid. Discussions with the municipality are currently still ongoing about possibilities to build to a height of 29 meters, comparable to the tallest part of building TQ. But that has not yet been definitively determined, according to Hoogedeure.

,,We are also considering creating flexible buildings. A new building could then first be used as a parking garage and later be converted into commercial space, if in the long term there is less need for parking spaces."

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