The university is growing closer together
Ground-breaking ceremony for the Allgemeine Verfügungszentrum (General Provision Centre) at the University of Siegen – additional space for central administration and parts of Faculty II.
AVZ – the abbreviation stands for Allgemeines Verfügungszentrum. This is what is currently being built on the land next to the university library at the Adolf Reichwein Straße campus. The building project was made possible thanks to the university modernisation programme from 2009. Following approval of the space allocation plan, the property developer NRW Building and Infrastructure and user the University of Siegen held an architectural competition in 2010/2011. The winner was the Cologne firm V-Architekten. It is responsible for design planning and implementation planning. The contract was awarded to a general contractor at the start of 2014. Funds amounting to roughly EUR 17 million were provided for the whole building including the required replacement parking spaces by the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Research (MIWF) and the NRW Ministry of Finance. The main floor space is approximately 4,500 square metres. It will house offices and seminar rooms. The space is being used by the Department of Education and Psychology. Central administration, which has been housed in a rented building at Herrengarten until now, will also move in here. Chemical storage is planned to be in the building's basement. It has an additional area of 305 square metres. The costs are estimated at roughly EUR 900,000. The office space should be available for use from the end of 2015. A new Senate Hall is also being built.
A
substitute will be provided promptly for the parking spaces
that are being lost due to the new AVZ building. For example,
more parking spaces are being created to the north of the
current gravel car park.
Rector Prof. Dr. Holger Burckhart: "The AVZ gives the university a boost so that it can grow. It is of particularly great value to the university's community as it means the university can be experienced as a social space. An interplay between topography, function and people has been successfully created. Resulting in a totally new entrance. Where there was once a barrier the university now opens up. It is important for administration to be close to university life. I myself moved to the Haardter Berg a year ago with my staff and my press and communications team. The advantages are obvious. The contact with lecturers and students is easier than from Herrengarten. On campus you are as it were where it is all happening and very easy for both employees and students to reach."
Chancellor Ulf Richter: "I have already been working from my office in the Student Service Center two days a week. We are of course aware that this building should provide space for student services first and foremost. That is why it is good that the new AVZ will be available next year and the Chancellor and Rector can move in with the whole central administration. Being close to what is happening at the university is important to us and essential for university management. The new AVZ also contributes to alleviating the lack of space as space is also being created for parts of Faculty II, for example. With this new building there is now the chance to create new and modern rooms for research and teaching on the AR campus and also locate the administration on the campus. This has many advantages: shorter routes, meeting up more often and automatically improving networking and communication. The university is growing closer together. The AVZ fits in marvellously, it's a great project. However, this does not complete the development of the campus yet, it is currently being checked whether it is possible, feasible and economical to further develop the campus. If the state provides further funding for maintenance and modernisation, this could result in new opportunities. We already have plenty of ideas."
Katja Knoche, Björn Bowinkelmann (photos & video)
