Official opening of Building Z

At the 7th of November, Bielefeld University opened its new Building Z. Since the beginning of this year, 120 offices with an effective surface area of 2,500 square metres have been built on the street Konsequenz. ‘Bielefeld University is growing, and this means we need new space. I’m very pleased that with Building Z, we have managed to acquire such urgently needed space so quickly and so successfully,’ says Dr Stephan Becker, the Chancellor of Bielefeld University. He celebrated the opening of the building along with numerous guests from both inside and outside the university. These included Dr Sandra Scheermesser from the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, Karin Schrader the Mayor of Bielefeld, and Martin Sauer the Deputy District Major from Schildesche.

The diggers started work in February, the last of the 90 modules constituting the building was installed in June, and the staff moved into their offices in October. It was the modular construction that made it possible to complete the building in such a short time. ‘This is the first time we have planned and constructed a building of this size by ourselves. I am pleased that everything went so quickly and functioned so well. I wish to thank everybody who contributed to this success,’ said Chancellor Dr Stephan Becker.

The number of students at Bielefeld University has been increasing for years and the UNIplus human resources initiative has ensured the recruitment of additional professors. Because not enough space is available, the university decided to invest in a new building. The building will be used by the Faculty of Educational Science and can be expanded as needed.

The new office building is made up of two sections constructed parallel to the street Konsequenz. The front part is four storeys high; the rear part, three storeys. The total budget was approximately 11 million euros. The general contractor was the company Kleusberg GmbH & Co. KG, and the building owner was the university itself.

 
Facts and figures on Building Z:
Start of construction:      February 2018
Completion:                   October 2018
Effective surface area:   About 2,500 square metres
Number of offices:         120
Building owner:              Bielefeld University
Total budget:                  Circa 11 million euros