Esplanade (main road)

This name, derived from French, refers to the central road on campus, running from the Intermezzo Building on the eastern extremity of the campus to the Warande wood in the west. This name only became current when the chief axis of the campus grounds shifted. Up until the nineties, it ran from Building A (now Cobbenhagen Building) to Building P, which accommodated the Social Sciences and Psychology.

New directions

All this was to change when several new building arose: the University Library, the Warande Building, the Zwijsen Building, the Dante Building and the Esplanade Building (the student center). On the other side of the Hogeschoollaan, the former Landbouwhuis (now Simon Building) and the Maaskantgebouw (now Academia Building) were purchased in the early 21st century, and the Montesquieu Building was newly built. This produced a new east-west axis, which was accentuated by endowing it with a uniform paving, treeing and lighting plan. The name Esplanade is causing a little confusion.

Grand café

The grand café, with the student center above it, bears the same name. An esplanade, moreover, is generally taken to refer to a forecourt or to a wide tree-lined avenue leading up to a monumental building or work of art. To help the name settle in, it is not very helpful that, on official maps, the Esplanade is called University Avenue, a name that is used by virtually no one on campus.