University of Debrecen
E-learning Center

The idea for the new building came from the realization that students coming here from all over the world have difficulty establishing relationships with each other or with Hungarian students. As it turned out from surveys, foreign students commute almost exclusively between their rented room and the university lecture halls; while an important goal of being a university student is also to make connections. In response to this, the interior designers – István Bényei and Sarolta Halmos, and their colleagues – dreamed of such spaces that encourage the students to stay; and belonging to the community is supported by small conversation spaces for a couple of people, and larger spaces for the comfort of larger groups.

In the wedge-shaped building block – which replaced the former gas reception and warehouse building –, according to the designers' intention, swirling, fresh spaces welcome the entering people, and on the ground floor there is a central lecture hall capable of accommodating 256 people, an office and a buffet offering food from several continents, as well as smaller community spaces. On the first floor of approximately one thousand square meters, community study rooms have been created, while on the second floor there are consultation spaces, rooms suitable for education and conducting electronic exams, and there are two prayer rooms as well.

The primary challenge of all design work is to ask the right question and then give an adequate answer to it during the design. In the case of the new community building of the University of Debrecen, István Bényei, Sarolta Halmos and their colleagues found both the question and the answer in terms of student needs.

The University of Debrecen has undergone great changes and serious development in recent years. High-quality education and buildings – that increasingly serve students – attract many young people, and the number of foreign students in particular has increased recently. In response to this, the management of the university decided to help their foreign students with a community building built especially for them.

The idea for the new building came from the realization that students coming here from all over the world have difficulty establishing relationships with each other or with Hungarian students. As it turned out from surveys, foreign students commute almost exclusively between their rented rooms and the university lecture halls; while an important goal of being a university student is also to make connections. In response to this, the interior designers – István Bényei and Sarolta Halmos, and their colleagues – dreamed of such spaces that encourage the students to stay; and belonging to the community is supported by small conversation spaces for a couple of people, and larger spaces for the comfort of larger groups. "We got involved in the project relatively late, but even our first concept was immediately understood and welcomed by the university management," said Bényei.