La Tramontane Eurocommerce

3-1-2001
After cycling around in the industrial areas of Enschede it seemed to me that the economy is too much booming to result in any empty factories or buildings. But almost back home, on the edge of the campus, I saw what would be my first 'infiltration' project. An office building under construction, about 8 stories high, loomed up like an enormous block of concrete right in front of me. I did notice it before but coming from the direction of Hengelo it looked much more impressive. Taking the official route through the traffic lights right next to the building and waiting for them to turn green it took me a few minutes to pass the crossing. During this time I took a good look at the fences surrounding the building and decided entering it wouldn't be very difficult. At the Hengelosestraat-side of the building the fences crossed a deep ditch so for one I could easily go underthrough them. I decided however that it would be wiser to wait until Sunday, so I would not run into any construction workers.

The building in question

7-1-2001
On this Sunday a took a look at the other side of the building first. On this side, not being towards the busy Hengelosestraat but towards some office buildings, it would be a bit more inconspicuous to cross the fence. However I didn't need to climb it, a few meters into a sideroad past an open gate the fence connected to a much smaller about 1 meter high fence which I could easily jump over. I crossed the construction site and entered the building through a window. On the inside the building didn't look that big. I found a staircase but the entry was partly blocked by a few boards. I think it was to keep construction workers from using these stairs, there were no railings so using them would be against ARBO-regulations. However I never noticed them missing so it couldn't have been too unsafe. The concrete stairs itself looked solid enough. Climbing up was easy, though tiring. The stairs continued to the top floor but not the roof. On the other side of the top floor I found a staircase that did continue to the roof.


The top floor. Notice the roundness of the right side.

The roof was quite a save place to be, having a concrete balustrade on the edge at almost all places. A mostly metal structure was being build on the roof, probably to accommodate the machinery for air-conditioning and the elevator and maybe some kind of billboard on the outside. I shot some pictures from the roof. The view from the roof was nice, overlooking Enschedes harbour with its industry and the "Business and Sciencepark". The campus was hidden in the trees, only the WB-tower, the EL-TN building and I think the KTC-building were visible. Of Hengelo some apartment buildings and church towers could be seen. On the horizon Oldenzaal was visible, but the weather being cloudy and a bit misty I don't think I got it on the photo. Unfortunately the view in the direction of the soccer stadium and 'Miracle Planet' was largely blocked by the tent-roof of the scaffolding. A lost deck of cards, spread by the wind and wet from the rain, showed what kind of hard working people construction workers are. :-) (Don't flame me, most of my family is construction worker).

The roof, looking in the direction of Hengelo


More roof. You can see a bit of the Hengelose straat.

Clearly visible is the EL-TN building. The WB-building is a bit hidden behind the metal construction

Business and Science Park and Enschedes industry in the distance

More Hengelose straat and Enschede

Fun to see the crossroads from above

On my way back down I had a look around the top floor, exploring the few rooms there were. To my surprise I found a third staircase, this one not being blocked by boards. It actually had a railing of rough wood, so these must be the stairs the construction workers are supposed to use. It is right in the center of the building, next to the elevator shaft. The elevator shaft had a temporary floor, no possibility for suicide attempts here.

The third staircase

On my way down I had a look around at some floors, but there wasn't much to see. The lower floors had part of their heating tubes and ventilation system already installed and on the bottom floor they had begun building inside walls, to divide the floor into rooms. I forgot to check for any cellars, but I don't think there were any. Jumping the low fence again on the way out proofed to be a bit more adventurous than the way in. I wanted to use a small wooden post as a stepping stone but it was rotten. Not wanting to damage anything I tried getting the weight of this foot while jumping, making me land kind of awkwardly on the road. This road then showed itself slippery and I, trying to keep my balance, ended up falling to the ground and face forward into the open gate. I wasn't hurt or anything, but it must have looked very funny. On the whole not a very interesting building but it was fun to explore it anyway.