Of the 250 new rooms 150 are meant for foreign students and guests and 100 for 'regular' Dutch students. Building is necessary because of the 'explosive growth' expected by the SSHD of the demand by foreign students for adequate housing. The new complex will also partially replace existing campus rooms that will be 'ready to be torn down in about six years', according to SSHD manager Karel de Wit. In particular the 400 rooms of 'Calslaan Nieuw' and 'Campuslaan Hoog' will not be considered for renovation in the not too distant future.
The rooms for foreigners will be set up with a bit more space, more amenities and completely furnished. De Wit: 'This, actually, goes more in the direction of providing hotel accommodation. You can compare it to the rooms in the Framework-project (the coloured flats near day care centre 'De Vlinder', ed.) that we already own on campus.
Apart from building on campus the SSHD expressly aims for extending its housing in the city. A total of 1,000 rooms - divided over campus and city - should be added. De Wit: 'We consciously pursue a two-prong policy. Sixty percent of our target group would prefer to live in the city, rather than on campus. You therefore have to make sure that you can also provide high-grade housing in the city. That can be done by building, with or without a property developer, but also by entering into contracts with third parties for renting groups of rooms.'
According to De Wit the SSHD is already talking to a property developer, who as part of the renewal of Enschede's city centre has a few options on offer for student housing. The council of Enschede also wants, according to De Wit, to reserve more 'planning space' for student housing, an until now 'forgotten target group' in municipal planning.
Ever since the UT has been working on the real estate master plan on campus (about three years now), the SSHD has been talking to the Executive Board about building. Therefore, the Structure Plan for the campus, which was presented by architect Jan Hoogstad and his staff in the spring, also shows several options for more student housing. But before an architect can start to work, a location has to be assigned definitively. And that can only be done after the complete master plan has been determined by the university administration.
'We would like to build on campus, and certainly on the boulevard as is planned now. But we cannot start before we know exactly what the plans are. We do not want to start building on a site supposedly in a lively center area, which turns out - after possible changes to the masterplan - to be completely isolated. And that is what we have agreed with the board.'
