AGH makes student hostels comfortable

AGH University of Science and Technology plans a renovation of its dormitories that will transform the current 10-person units with one shared bathroom into two-person units with private bathrooms.

It will be a huge project because AGH has more dorm rooms than any university in the city. The dorms accommodate up to 4,000 students in each of the fall and spring semesters.
Cost of the renovation is estimated at 7 mln to 8 mln zloty per four-story dorm. With five buildings, the overall cost will be about 36 mln zloty.

The AGH campus has 20 student hostels. There are plans to rebuild five hostels, starting with buildings: 16, 17, 1, 5, 9. The total number of buildings that will undergo reconstruction is not known.

The Ministry of Education will be providing much of the money for the work.
The university is making the changes partly because good deals in the private-apartment rental market are luring students away from the dorms. Some students would rather pay more than they would pay for dorm rooms for newer and more private accommodations.
Right now each dorm unit has four rooms, some of which accommodate three students and some two. The four rooms are connected to a collective bathroom, which contains two sinks, one shower and one toilet.

In the new setup, each unit in the dormitories will have two rooms plus a bathroom. Units will accommodate one or two students.

Each of the new units will also have a small kitchen.
Although the two-person units will end such traditions as talking with others during tooth-brushing and sock-washing sessions, students want better accommodations, said Faculty of Materials Science and Ceramics student Caroline.
The new rooms will also have better furnishings, university officials say. The old military-style steel-framed beds will be out, as will bunk beds – unless students in a unit demand a bunk bed.

The new furniture will be modern and attractively designed instead of just functional, said Chancellor Henryk Ziolo. If some students want to use a bunkbed to free up more space in their room, they can certainly do that, he said. Renovating the dorms will not only benefit students, but also summer tourists on limited budgets. AGH rents dorm rooms to tourists in summer, becoming the largest “hotel” in Krakow. Half of its guests are foreigners.

The university will renovate its oldest buildings first. Dorms buildings 16 and 17 should be ready before the holiday break next year.