KU Leuven Renovates University Hall for Future Advancements
The outer shell of the Leuven University Hall is currently being restored. The Rectorate is also undergoing a thorough renovation. The works must protect the iconic building against the test of time and adapt it to current sustainability standards. They will take about a year to complete.
The monumental building in Naamsestraat is often the first place where new students are introduced to the university. After all, this is where they come to register for their studies at KU Leuven. It is the place where it all started for the Leuven University. This hall has been the nerve center of the university for many centuries. Over the centuries the building had various functions , today you will find the rector and vice-rectors with their staff there, and a number of university services. The stately Museum Hall also houses the university shop and the cozy coffee bar KUp, a meeting room for students, staff and visitors to the university.
Nowadays you can also view the model of the University Hall that burned down in 1914 there. She reminds every visitor of the madness of war and the defenselessness of cultural goods therein. After being set up on the site of the Yser Tower for some time, the model ended up in Leuven via a number of intermediate steps. Given its symbolic value and the message it conveys, KU Leuven is pleased and grateful that it can add this donation to its heritage collections and exhibit it in the reconstructed and soon to be restored University Hall.
“During the works, the outer shell and the Rectorate will be tackled,” explain Nathalie Kok and Luc Karremans, project managers of the Technical Services. “We do this with the greatest respect for the history of the building, which is a protected monument.”
The outer shell is being tackled in a targeted manner. The majority of the facade stones have already been thoroughly cleaned over the last two decades, now it is the turn of the facades around the southern courtyard. In addition, the pointing and missing or outdated natural stone parts of all facades are supplemented or repaired. The exterior carpentry is also being tackled in its entirety: steel and stained glass windows are being restored; wooden windows restored or renewed and fitted with new thermal glazing. Finally, a number of roof surfaces are restored and insulated to optimize the indoor climate and reduce heat loss.
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In combination with these restoration works, the Rectorate on the second floor will receive a thorough renovation, to ensure that the University Hall better meets contemporary sustainability standards. Lighting, heating and ventilation are being renovated, and the offices and classrooms are being refreshed. The existing lighting will be replaced with energy-efficient LED lighting. The existing heating and ventilation installations will be replaced by a heat pump and a ventilation installation with efficient heat recovery, which will ensure that the climate control of the Rectorate will be completely fossil-free and energy-efficient.
The reception, the university shop and the KUp coffee bar on the ground floor will remain accessible during the works, as will a number of services.
Moving principal
During the works, some of the ‘residents’ of the second floor of the University Hall live in the KU Leuven Research & Development building in Minderbroedersstraat, within walking distance of the University Hall. This concerns the rector and vice-rectors, their employees and the Press and Policy Communication department. After the works, probably at the end of 2024, they will return to the University Hall.
“This renovation is necessary to protect this monumental building against the test of time and to adapt it to current sustainability standards,” says rector Luc Sels. “Although it still feels strange to leave the rectorship now. I am happy that I can return in 2025, just in time for the 600th anniversary of KU Leuven,” he adds with a laugh. “I am also proud that such a monumental historic heritage building is also involved in the realization of our sharp sustainability ambitions.”
The university was awarded a heritage premium special procedure for the works under the theme of energy-saving measures. The university is also very grateful to the Flemish Government for its support and financial contribution to maintain the heritage value of the University Hall.
“KU Leuven has a centuries-old history and today takes care of both the immovable and movable heritage that is the result,” says Flemish Minister Matthias Diependaele. “The University Hall is one of its heritage pearls. The nerve center of the university, after all, every new student passes here to register. The University Hall is 700 years old and was originally built as a cloth hall. During that period, Leuven was internationally famous for its cloth industry. So we have been using this monument for 700 years, which counts in terms of sustainability. Thanks to the restoration work that the building is currently undergoing, it will be more energy efficient in the future, so we can prepare it for future generations of students I would like to do my part.”