With the opening of a new auditorium, WU Vienna University of Economics and Business is sending a clear signal that optimal study and teaching conditions are at the top of its priorities. The new auditorium was created by remodeling an existing space. It seats 250 people and will help WU meet an acute need for additional seating capacity due to increased enrollment figures and strong demand for suitable teaching rooms.

Previously, the Audimax auditorium, seating 650, and several lecture halls with a maximum capacity of 180 people were the only options available on Campus WU for teaching large-scale courses. The lack of an intermediate-sized lecture hall was felt especially in the Bachelor’s Program in Business and Economics, which now has around 240 new students enrolling each year. In addition, WU has been pleased to see the numbers of prospective students and academically active students hit a ten-year high recently.

An auditorium with cutting-edge equipment

The new room has been created in a very short time frame to provide a highly functional auditorium that can also serve as a meeting place and as a space for discourse. The auditorium is designed to be multifunctional, and it can also be used for formats that go beyond academic courses, but it is first and foremost intended as a lecture hall. The stage can be dismantled, there are sliding divider walls, and each seat offers a large writing pad, a power outlet, and an unhindered view of the stage and one of the large screens. “When we decided to convert this space into a new auditorium, it was important to us to create a solution quickly and making efficient use of our resources to provide a superior experience to students and teachers alike. In this way, we’re strengthening the quality of WU’s academic programs and our teaching, and we’re making a long-term investment in the future of our university,” WU Rector Rupert Sausgruber points out.

Sustainable campus development

“The conversion was carried out while our academic operations were in full swing, which posed a special challenge with regard to the technical and logistical aspects involved. We also stayed on time and on budget with the conversion, as we’d done with the entire Campus WU construction project before. For this great achievement, I’d like to thank everyone involved,” says Rector Sausgruber. To complete the construction work as quickly as possible and at a low cost, the university repurposed existing campus spaces. The books of a specialist library previously located there were incorporated into the central holdings of the WU University Library. This freed up the space required for the new auditorium, without the need to rent any additional spaces or construct new buildings. This resource-conscious approach is part of WU’s commitment to sustainable campus development.

Over 3,500 seats for studying on Campus WU

In addition to the 250-seat auditorium, WU has also created several other new facilities intended to ensure an ideal student experience. A small 30-seat auditorium in the same building, intentionally designed to be analog only, now offers an ideal setting for collaborative work. A lounge and an independent study area are available to students for collaboration or focused studying. Together with the WU Base, a space in the Mensa cafeteria that was opened last year and is available to students for studying and collaborating without any obligation to purchase food or drinks, these and other areas currently provide over 3,500 individual spots on campus where students can study and work independently. With these new facilities, WU is further strengthening the quality of its academic programs and teaching, as part of its ongoing efforts to cultivate a lively environment for studying and collaborating on campus.