Renovation of the West Wing and management of nuisance in lecture rooms

The renovation of the office area in the West Wing of the Academy Building started last summer. As a preventive measure during the demolition work, no lectures were timetabled in the West Wing until early November. Although this work has not yet been completed, lectures have now been scheduled in the Offerhauszaal, Geertsemazaal, Van der Leeuwzaal and Zernikezaal.

An agreement was made with the contractor before work commenced to ensure that teaching would not suffer as a result of construction work. It was agreed that banging, demolition and drilling would only be carried out before 9 a.m., for example, and that building work carried out after this time would not seriously disturb lectures.

Solutions

As people were still experiencing inconvenience (despite the agreement with the contractor), the matter was brought up with the contractor again to see if a solution could be found. Noisy or irritating work will be stopped immediately, but less noisy jobs will continue during the day as will work on the parts of the building that are furthest away from the lecture rooms, such as the former Unimail building. In addition, extra surveillance is in place to monitor the building work. Finally, at the beginning of 2019, some disruptive activities are planned, such as replacing window frames and making technical improvements in the lecture rooms. Alternative locations for the lectures are under investigation.

As was the case before the project started, the faculties concerned have been consulted. They say that changing the timetables has certain disadvantages; it is not always easy to find external locations with high-standard teaching facilities (the option of video recording, for example) at such short notice. The lecturers concerned have been informed by the faculties.

Now that the contractor has taken these measures, students and lecturers are being asked to show some understanding with regard to the remaining noise caused by the building work. Noise caused by construction work cannot be totally banished, but it can be kept to a minimum.

Complaints

Inconvenience during lectures is expected to remain at an acceptable level once these new measures are in place. However, if the noise becomes excessive, students can complain to their lecturers. Lecturers can then report the matter to the facility manager/caretaker of the Academy Building Complex. Lecturers can find instructions on the computer tables.

About the renovation

Once the renovation work in the West Wing has been completed, the next phase will involve modifying the office area on Oude Boteringestraat, where there are no teaching rooms.

See the progress of the building work here