Green light for renovation of group classrooms and Bastilleveld

Friday 9 January 2026

There is good news for Sports & Culture. The Executive Board has officially approved the first renovation projects for Sports & Culture within the framework of the LTSH. These involve the renovation of group exercise rooms SC5 and SC6 and the modification of Bastilleveld. This gives the green light for the tendering process to start shortly.

Why these renovations?

Although the original Sports & Culture master plan has been significantly scaled back for 2023 due to declining student enrollment and the financial situation of the University of Twente, investing in good sports and cultural facilities remains important.
Together with the Student Union, among others, we looked at where the biggest bottlenecks are, with a focus on safety, functionality, accessibility, and appearance. This has led to a number of sub-projects for renovations and modifications to sports and cultural facilities, the first two of which have now been approved.

What will happen?

Group classrooms SC5 and SC6

The group classrooms are technically and structurally outdated and will be renovated internally. This will solve moisture problems, repair the supporting structure, and improve wall insulation. A new ventilation system with heat recovery will also be installed.

The new layout on the ground floor includes a weight room, which will be linked to the fitness room on the upper floor, in response to the increasing demand for individual sports facilities. The remaining space will remain available for group lessons and will be adapted to current requirements and appearance. The use of glass walls and the widening of corridors and passageways will create more transparency and reduce the bottlenecks that were previously identified.

Bastilleveld

The Bastilleveld is currently used relatively little due to the fragile turf and the lack of lighting. The installation of artificial turf and field lighting will make the field much more usable and allow it to be used more often, including in the evenings. This will also help to compensate for the loss of another UT soccer field (“het Verre Veld”) due to the planned construction of student housing and will give sports clubs more space again.

Planning

The additional fitness room and the renovated group exercise room are scheduled to open at the start of the 2026–2027 academic year. The final design is ready, consultants are involved, and the permit has been applied for.

*Images are impressions of the atmosphere. The final result may vary slightly.

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