Students begin moving into the 216 new apartments in the Technion’s Graduate Students Village
This is the largest graduate housing project in the Technion and one of the largest building projects in Haifa in recent years; 60 apartments are already occupied, with residents paying low rents – starting from 1,400 ₪ per month, including city taxes & cable TV
On the 18th of March 2009, the philanthropist Shalom Zielony laid the cornerstone for the Graduate Students Village and dedicated the new Student Union Building, which had been completely rebuilt and expanded through his generous gift.
The Graduate Students Village was built on the top slope of the campus, in the southwest section and overlooks the breathtaking vista of Haifa and Haifa Bay. It has many different kinds of apartments, from 2-4 rooms, ranging in size from 60 to 100 sq m. Some apartments look out to the panorama of Haifa Bay and others front onto a grove of trees. The buildings were built using ‘green’ construction methods, with the highest level thermal insulation, and careful planning to ensure that they blended in with the nearby stand of trees. The buildings are inter-connected by a series of bridges and each apartment has a parking space. The head of Technion’s building unit, Dan Ordan, said that in total 22,000 sq m were constructed, and in the near future construction of a large community center will begin. The community center will have four kindergartens and a social hall accommodating 200 people.
The new village has four full equipped playgrounds for children, each one appropriate for a different age. The village buildings are interconnected, as are the playgrounds, through a series of bridges so that the children do not have to walk on the road and cars will only have access through a perimeter road running around the village.
Architect Gabi Schwartz explained that “the project is engaged in a dialogue with its surroundings and nature. We strove to develop only the necessary areas for building the buildings and not to obstruct the view of the residents nearby Ramat Alon,” he emphasized. According to him, by using the bridge system between the buildings, they created a “hanging boardwalk above nature” and enable free movement for the handicapped in a hilly area. The buildings were built in a north-south direction, which saves energy and exploits the regional climate correctly.
“We put a lot of thought into the issue of community and meeting points,” added Gabi Schwartz. “The community center will also be linked to the buildings by bridges.”
Technion president, Prof. Peretz Lavie, when visiting the site, said that the village was built as part of Technion’s efforts to provide graduate students with high quality of life and enable those among them with families to live on campus in good, low rental apartments. “The new Graduate Students Village constitutes another important part of the basket of incentives the Technion gives its graduate students,” he added. “We see great importance in increasing the number of Master’s and doctoral students, in light of their great contribution to the country’s economy and security, to the Technion and to Israeli academia.”
Students will pay an especially low rent in comparison to prices for rental of apartments in Haifa in general and in the Neve Sha’anan neighborhood and the city of Nesher adjacent to the Technion. For a two-room apartment the rent is 1,400 ₪; for 3 rooms, 1,700 ₪; and for 3.5-4 rooms, 1,900 ₪. The rent includes city taxes, cable TV and maintenance. Every apartment has a storeroom and is furnished with a refrigerator, oven, closets and desk.
The Student Union Building is located in the heart of the campus. It houses the student union offices, restaurants, cafés, a movie theatre, and a music hall and rooms. The renovated Student Union Building also has a multipurpose social hall where open days, job fairs, parties, end of the year celebrations, performances, folkdances and dance classes are held. In the main entrance level foyer there is a multimedia area with a large screen television. A guest hall, situated above the level where the restaurants and cafés are, affords students a quiet area for resting or reading.
The student services area in the Student Union Building includes the offices of the representatives of the tax authorities, social insurance institute, telephony service providers, insurance agents and other service providers.
Shalom Zielony, born in Jerusalem but raised in Haifa, is one of the Technion’s most important donors and a true friend of Technion. After serving in the Hagana and the IDF in the War of Independence, he settled in Canada and developed an advanced machine for processing wood and innovative ways to improve loading of ships making trans-Atlantic trips. After he moved to the U.S., in 1967 Zielony founded P.E.S., a company focused on distribution of scientific literature around the world. It was the first American company to use airmail to transport scientific journals and thus became a key global figure in the distribution of scientific and professional literature and a primary distribution channel for scientific publishers.
Shalom Zielony is dedicated to strengthening the state of Israel through bolstering its scientific and technological resilience. In 2003 he received an honorary doctorate from the Technion for recognizing Technion’s essential role in advancing and strengthening the state of Israel and in gratitude for his great support in promoting the academic abilities of Technion students and staff, and the Technion environment. Shalom Zielony helped the Technion finance the hiring of new faculty members, was among the first donors in the area of nano-technology, set up the Shalom Zielony Plaza in the heart of the campus and the scenic promenade leading out of it, and promotes the welfare of students through the Center for Advancement of Students, which he unstintingly supports. He has now established a new Student Union Building and a unique and beautiful Student Village for all the students he truly loves.
Above: Technion president, Professor Peretz Lavie, visiting the new apartment of Helena Ivanova. Her husband, Mario, is studying for a graduate degree in physics. Photo by: Shlomo Shoham, Technion Spokesman