This is what the new CEU University headquarters in the centre of Elche will look like

In 2024-2025 academic year the Elche campus will host the School of Dentistry in a historic building of the city with more than 4,750 square metres and an investment of 7 million euros.

The building has been designed so that “students cannot only study but also socialise,” says José María Serra, head of Heritage at the San Pablo CEU University Foundation. Based on respect for elements of great architectural value, such as the façade, the interior staircase and the stuccoes, four floors have been created with classrooms and fluid spaces. “It is going to be a unique building, like the Reyes Católicos and Carmelitas buildings, linked to the city centre, and which turns CEU into the university of the city centre. It is an urban campus,” says the rector. Among the actions there are plans to modify the roof of the building, which will be converted into a garden area with a cafeteria.

According to José María Serra, the building, whose façade “will be restored to its original form without altering the composition“, will have two separate entrances: one with the lobby and stairs protected, and another separate entrance for the dental clinic, which in addition to the clinic will have two pre-clinics and various X-ray and plastering rooms. On each of the upper floors there will be three classrooms in each with open areas, the main feature of which will be the lighting and the two new transversal courtyards that will be created and which did not exist before. And on the top floor there will be a cafeteria and a garden area to “favour the integration of the students; A space for more than 600 students.

The new headquarters will accommodate more than 600 students of the degree in Dentistry and possible postgraduate courses to be implemented in the future, and the incorporation of a new degree course is not ruled out. However, the rector recalled that CEU UCH is the university “that offers the fewest degrees in the community”, which means that “the priority is the growth of teaching and quality rather than aiming for degrees that may represent a new market niche with the building”.

The Dentistry degree at the Elche centre was introduced one academic year ago and currently has 120 students, which will increase to 400 when all the degree courses are in place. The new facilities will also allow the development of the postgraduate courses implemented by the educational institution in the near future.