The decision has been made: SSH& will construct 149 temporary residences on the campus. The prefab homes will be delivered in May 2024 and will be located behind the Huygens building.

The 149 residences will be distributed across two five-story buildings. Each floor will have approximately fifteen independent living spaces of 23 square meters each. This building is temporary: the prefab apartments will be delivered ready-made and are intended for a period of 15 years. The idea is that they will be disassembled afterward and reconstructed elsewhere.

The apartments are set be completed in May next year and will be immediately available for students. From March onward, the first living spaces will start appearing in the raffle system on the SSH& website. The rooms will only be available to students of Radboud University.

Fire Safety

SSH& is leasing a piece of land from the university for the construction of the buildings, for a period of fifteen years from the university. The site is a grassy area on the Toernooiveld, situated between the Huygens building, HFML-FELIX, and Mercator II.

When the idea of residences on campus was first announced, former Rector Magnificus Han van Krieken expressed hope that the complex would be ready by 2022. SSH& also previously stated that, ‘if everything goes well,’ the residences could be in place by September 2022.

That it will ultimately be in 2024 is due, among other things, to various choices in the process, according to a spokesperson for the student housing provider. ‘For example, the rooms that are now being built are better than the emergency homes that were discussed at the time. There has also been a careful examination of both the biodiversity of the area and additional requirements regarding the building’s fire safety.’

SSH& does not acknowledge any delay. ‘The complex is still being realized faster than a regular construction project.’

No name yet

Preliminary construction efforts will start soon, beginning with the installation of utilities and preparing the ground for construction. ‘After that, the placement of the rooms, which are ready and waiting, will follow relatively quickly,’ said the spokesperson.

The complex is the third residential location of SSH& on the Nijmegen campus, following Sterrenbosch and the former nurses’ residence of Radboudumc. The temporary complex will be entirely gas-free. However, unlike Sterrenbosch, it will not be connected to the university’s heating network.

There is no name for the new student complex yet. SSH& will announce a competition among residents to come up with a name at the beginning of 2024.

Translated by Siri Joustra