Red building at TWC stripped bare after 50 years

It is Monday afternoon, October 14. The Red Building at Tuindorp West Complex (TWC) must be empty tomorrow to make room for a renovation. The area around the flat is littered with old fridges, freezers, and washing machines no one needs anymore. A large skip, placed to discard bulky waste, gets full in no time, so it needs to be emptied constantly. Pieces of laminate are scattered everywhere, thrown out of the windows by the residents and construction workers.

The street is a mess. Photo: DUB

Take the lift and look through the glass doors and you’ll see junk piled up on every floor. Residents are simply dumping the bulky rubbish on the gallery, while construction workers are hauling it downstairs. It’s the last day before the deadline and students are still moving house, so the lift is in constant use. On the sixth floor, a water pipe has burst and water cascades down from the galleries like a waterfall. 

Residents of the first floor threw a "demolition party" last weekend and one of the living room windows was broken. The kitchen reeks of stale beer and there is broken glass all over the floor. "Old residents threw that party," says a temporary tenant, as she moves the last of her belongings. "There's no way I'm going to pay for that." 

The aftermath of the demolition party. Photo: DUB

In any case, the construction workers have plenty to do and they are already working in and around the building. They laugh as they point to the refrigerators that have been put outside, still full of leftovers. According to the landlord, student housing provider SSH, the property will be prepared for renovation over the next few weeks. Inspections will still be carried out in the units and a cleaning crew will clear up all the leftovers before the renovation officially commences on November 1. 

The renovation 
It was October 2023 when SSH announced that the Red Building would be the first of the three TWC properties to be renovated, so all residents had to move out. SSH came up with a social plan, which was tweaked several times to accommodate the residents' needs. However, SSH still needed 70 percent of the residents to agree with that plan to be able to go forward with the renovations. They obtained the necessary signatures in February. From that moment on, everyone had to find somewhere else to live. Residents of the Red Building were given priority on the SSH waiting list. Gradually, the building trickled out, although temporary tenants were allowed to move in for the first few months. This scheme was discontinued a few weeks ago.

Built between 1970 and 1973, this building has been a home to generations of students for 50 years. Fond memories, beer crates, household items and layers of dirt have piled up behind the old fridges over all those decades. In recent days, all that history has been taken away by the last residents or put downstairs at the skip that was placed by SSH in front of the building to make things easier for the students.

The end of Huize 108 
Jelle feels a little lost as he stands in the bare living room. He’s there to pick up a few last items and use one of the empty rooms to build a bike from parts he found lying around the building. Jelle is the only roommate who stayed in the apartment until almost the very last moment and will be the last to leave before the cleaning crew arrives tomorrow. He and five former roommates cleared the house two weeks ago. Only the fridge needs to be moved out now and, when he opens it, a pleasant surprise awaits him: it’s still full of leftovers. One more thing to clean up. 

Jelle found Huize 108's long-lost "house monkey", which mysteriously disappeared two years ago, in another house. Photo: DUB

Other than that, the flat is stripped bare. Walking through the empty bedrooms, you can almost hear the echo of the voices of the hundreds of students who preceded Jelle in this house. A few bottles of shampoo were left in the shower. "I don't think they’re going to give us a hard time about that," says Jelle, who now lives in a studio in the city centre. 

Excel sheet 
The former residents of Huize 108 made a neat Excel sheet to divide the household goods. Sam wanted the plant pots and her favourite mug, while Foppe bagged the game console. No one wanted the freezer, so Jelle managed to sell it for 20 euros on the final day.

Emptying the house went smoothly: they were done in just a few hours. According to the rules, former residents are responsible for emptying the house and taking out the flooring unless a temporary tenant moves into their room. Wobke, who left first and got a temporary tenant in her place did not have to help, whereas a couple of former roommates who had been in their new place for weeks suddenly received an unexpected notice that they had to come to the Red Building and clean it up. Still, Joris did not come back to take out his flooring and, according to Jelle, he probably won’t be doing that. So far, SSH has not mentioned what the "penalty" is for failing to comply.

Relaunch of Huize 108 
Fortunately, the "end" of TWC doesn’t mean the end for Huize 108. Last weekend, all the roommates went on a weekend trip to Antwerp. The getaway was such a success that plans are in the works to keep this up every year. Another get-together was planned for next Monday night. "Monday night at Poema," says Jelle. "That's a tradition."

A weekend getaway in Antwerp. Photo: courtesy of Huize 108

While Jelle is hauling the final items from the bare, cold TWC flat, we meet Psychology student Wobke nice and cosy in her new studio in the Mammoet building, with her cat Spencer on her lap. Although the move has been an emotional rollercoaster for her, in hindsight she’s happy with how everything went. "Without the SSH priority scheme, I would never have been able to live at Mammoet," she says. "It is so spacious. It has a big common room where I can share a meal with other people, such as former roommates from Huize 108 or my year club. It's such a relief to finally have my own toilet and not have to share it with those filthy guys!"

Wobke and Spencer's new studio. Photo: Samuel de Weerd

The future 
Wobke got the stew pot and masher as a keepsake, as she always made stew for her roommates. She believes the bond shared by the residents of Huize 108 will last for a long time. Foppe, Floris and Eva also found a new place at Mammoet, so keeping in touch is easy. Lars and Jelle moved to an apartment in the city centre. Now that they live on their own, they’re also craving a bit more socialising. "Apart from Thom and Sam, no one has gotten new roommates with whom they will build a bond," says Wobke. "For many of us, Huize 108 was the last house where we lived with roommates. So, we’re connected for life!"