Since Monday, students from the Rotterdam Business School (RBS) have been attending classes in the World Trade Center. Last Wednesday, the definitive report was published, showing that section C of the Kralingse Zoom location is a fire hazard. For the next few months, classes will therefore be held in the WTC.

On Monday, there was still some confusion about which entrance to the WTC the students should use. This confusion has since been cleared up. Students are now standing outside the Rode Zand/Meent entrance, chatting or smoking, and walking inside as if they have been using the entrance for years to go to class.

Fidan is one of those standing outside, about to go to class. ‘On Monday, it took a bit of finding, but everything has since been sorted out. We’ve been given a map of the building and that works fine. I come from The Hague so the journey time is a little shorter for me now.’

Fidan is quite happy with the location, with just a couple of minor complaints. ‘There is no canteen, so you have to bring your own lunch,’ she says. ‘We also don’t have any wifi and we need that for our project.’ According to press spokesperson Jeroen Cok, the second, third and fourth floors of the WTC will have wifi by Monday 22 January. The other floors will have wifi within three weeks.

The absence of a canteen is partially compensated by free coffee, tea, water and biscuits. People sit around tables in a large room; an improvised canteen. The WTC is also working on a solution to that problem. ‘From next Monday, there will be machines with hot and cold drinks and snacks,’ says Cok. ‘We are still working on a more permanent solution, in the form of a new canteen or a pop-up kitchen.’

In the corridor on the fourth floor of the WTC, a group of students is standing and talking. ‘We don’t have any canteen, wifi or project rooms,’ says Johanne. To work on projects, Johanne goes to the library or to cafes in the neighbourhood. Wifi is free virtually everywhere, these days. ‘Apart from that, everything is well organised. The timetable is clear and also where we are and aren’t allowed to go. People have to work here, of course.’

The lift contains a sign with information on the floors and where students are not allowed to enter. A year and a half ago, a law firm filed a suit against the company renting out offices in the WTC. The law firm was also renting space there and was disturbed by the students attending classes in the building at the time.

How long the repairs to the Kralingse Zoom building will take and when the students can return is currently unknown.

Lana van der Meer