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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.
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