The renovation is part of the eight-year plan encompassing the renovations of UNS50, which started in 2022. It was the library’s turn in August of last year. Studying had to temporarily take place on Endepolsdomein 150, which used to be where the Maastricht School of Management was housed.
There is a screen at the entrance showing a map. The first and second floor are for self-study, the third is for group work. And just like in the city centre, spaces can be reserved, but not everywhere. “Only in the super focus areas,” Meike Kerkhofs-Welkenhuizen, project leader of innovative learning spaces explains. “You do have to be quiet in there.” As well as studying, there is also room for mental health, but that is still “a work in progress,” she said. “The idea is to use VR glasses for mindfulness.”
Instead of red and dark blue, the library is now light green and adorned with an abundance of plants. Real plants. That was still a question: would the influence on the humidity affect the books? “We have to keep an eye on that,” says the project leader. There was no need for an extra employee for the maintenance of all that green; an external party is responsible for that. In addition to the plants, the anatomy space is also new. Where models used to be in glass cases, they are now in an open case, ready to be practiced upon. Although the latter is still not clear to everyone. “A student asked me if the models could be touched,” she laughs. What do the users themselves feel about the metamorphosis? Quieter and more orderly, a third-year medical student says. And that was exactly the architect’s intention.