And suddenly no one is allowed to go inside. The X building, the showpiece of Windesheim, turns out to be unsafe.
After a parking garage collapsed in Eindhoven last spring, suspicion rose that it was caused by inferior construction technology. On October 5, the ministry sent a list of guidelines to all townships to inspect certain buildings. Among which the X building. The conclusion of a few test drills was unpleasant: the building had to be closed, because the floors didn’t satisfy the guidelines. The reinforcement of the inferior construction could take up until the summer of 2018.
Worried lecturers and staff members were given clarification on the acute closing of their workplace. And on the locations where the more than four thousand users of X will be working for some time in the future.
Chairman of the Executive Board Henk Hagoort explained. “The building is not on the verge of collapsing.”, he assured, “but the risk is so high that we cannot use it in a normal way for now.” A plan will be made in which alternative teaching locations and workplaces can be used until the summer holidays. The lecturers and staff members of the affected study programmes will be doing their utmost best to exercise flexibility and to co-operate with improvised solutions. The fact that there are test weeks going on now is a blessing in disguise, because there is significantly less stress. So there is more time to arrange alternative workplaces for when the lectures resume.
The atmosphere among the staff members is harmonious. The crisis almost seems to cause fraternity at Windesheim. Here and there, heart-warming help or a temporary workplace is offered to the ‘unsettled’ colleagues.
‘Making do for a couple of weeks’
Director Jolande Gomolka coordinates the alternative locations for the affected study programmes of the division Business, Media and Law.
Last week, alternative exam locations, workplaces and study rooms were arranged as fast as possible. Locations for the second educational term, which begins after the test period, are being arranged now. “We need to make do for a couple of weeks. It will become less stressful later on, since we will be placing study programmes close to each other as much as possible”, says Gomolka.
The other scenarios are being worked on and calculated thoroughly. Where possible, extra educational space will be created in the buildings at the campus. “By cleverly looking at the spaces, roughly 25 of the 50 necessary locations are already actually found at the campus”, adds Henk Hagoort. If an insufficient amount of space is found internally, the search may be redirected to, for example, Hanzeland.
Because of the closing of the parking garage under X, drivers may need to park at Dinoland. Possessions may be retrieved after reporting to the caretakers, since it is prohibited for a large number of people to enter the building at the same time.
Text: Ernest Mettes
