Dark basement becomes modern and inspiring learning and research environment
After a major renovation, the basement of the Pieter de la Court building has changed almost beyond recognition. Dark, outdated rooms gave way to fresh, bright teaching rooms and spacious, modern lab spaces with state-of-the-art facilities. Thursday 12 June marked the official opening.
Dean Sarah de Rijcke opened the new space with a speech, in which she praised the result as a beautiful design and an inspiring environment for students and researchers. Following this, visitors were able to view the new spaces and watch demonstrations by researchers.
Glass and round shapes
Thanks to glass walls, new furniture and a large meeting area, the teaching rooms are now an inviting learning environment. But the part with the labs has undergone the biggest transformation. The labs are suitable for many forms of human-related research within the Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) domain. Besides multifunctional rooms, there are observation labs and EEG labs especially for babies and children. These are child-friendly and provide enough space for parents as well.
Meeting the needs
Manager of the SSH labs Maureen Meekel emphasises that researchers themselves have had plenty of opportunities to contribute their ideas about the layout of the spaces. 'We now have labs here that really meet the needs of researchers. It used to be a maze here, but now it is clean and uncluttered and we even have natural light in the open space. These are labs that I am proud to show off.'
First experiences
And what do the researchers themselves think? PhD student Anastasiia Myronenko (Psychology) is one of the first users of the new labs. The set-up of several adjoining rooms is ideal for her research on how people perceive persons with physical disorders. 'They are nice, well-equipped labs and even though I was the first, I was always very well helped with anything I needed. The old lab spaces were dark and cramped, here we have all the room we need.'
Screens and cubicles
Master's student Greta Sandow (Psychology) is also enthusiastic. For her thesis research on Perceptual decision-making, she uses the largest new lab space in the basement. 'It feels really good to receive participants here, and they are often really impressed. The tightly decorated space with the many screens and cubicles does remind us a bit of something out of a movie. It feels very professional.'
Curious about the renovations? Come and have a look around the basement yourself. More information about the lab spaces can be found on the SSH labs' own site.
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Sarah de Rijcke opens the renovated basement -
Round shapes, clean lines -
Tour -
Lab space -
Lab space