BGE's new student centre boasts a world-class library

The new multifunctional student centre of the Budapest University of Economics (BGE) in Zugló has been handed over. The investment was carried out by LATEREX Építő Zrt. rel="noopener">LATEREX Építő Zrt. on Bagolyvár Street, next to the BGE Accounting and Finance Department, with state funding.

The new two-storey university building complex with 18,000 students includes a university library, sports and community spaces, study boxes, research rooms, conference rooms, a restaurant, terrace and a buffet.

The 2330 square metre building, called UniZone, is sustainable and barrier-free. Its ergonomic and flexible community spaces are equipped with the latest smart technologies - including energy-efficient VRV heating/cooling, energy-efficient lighting control, automatic luggage lockers, intelligent intrusion detection systems.

Balázs Hankó, Minister of State for Innovation and Higher Education at the Ministry of Culture and Innovation said at the ceremony: "When we say that it is good to be a university student in Hungary today, to teach at a university, to be part of the university community, this is what we mean by what we see here.

The BGE has reached a milestone, the building complex on the Zugló campus was a multifaceted, necessary development, a place where students can recharge their batteries, where community life and learning meet, where "it is good to be" - said Péter Ágh, Minister of State for Social Coordination of Public Investments Építési és Közlekedési Minisztérium. He stressed that the library of the new complex will be open to all.

The university's new central library is a world-class facility

The university library has a capacity of 1600 shelf metres, almost 65 thousand books, thousands of university notes, a collection of journals, professional databases and tens of thousands of e-books, and its e-contents can be accessed from home via VPN connection.

Rector Balázs Heidrich said that BGE is Hungary's largest business university, the largest "business community", a university of 18,000 students, which enrolled almost 7,300 students this year, with 1,330 international students from 91 countries. The new student centre, which students have already taken occupation of, has an important role to play in building the community.

Following the speeches, the ribbon-cutting ceremony followed, and guests were given a guided tour of the new multifunctional centre.

The connecting building creates a link

In August, Péter Koncsek, chief engineer of the LATEREX project, provided our newspaper with information about the interesting aspects of the implementation.

• The library building was built on the site of the ground-floor dining-kitchen building attached to the 'A' building of the college, with a basement, ground floor and two floors, including a lift.
• On the ground floor of Building A, a new student centre with community and recreational spaces has been created.
• The third main task was the construction of a new two-storey connecting building to Building A, after the demolition of the ground floor connecting corridor between Buildings B, C and D.

The new library building is thus directly connected to the dormitory building. A new passageway, also attached to the dormitory, allows direct connection with the other buildings on campus. Students can now access the student centre directly from the education wings and from there they can access the library.