The Jerusalem College of Engineering - The New Campus

Established in 1999 The Jerusalem College of Engineering (JCE) started from the premise that Jerusalem’s economic future depended upon its ability to educate highly trained professions in the field of technology. Combining a high standard of excellence in its curriculum with a practical hands on approach to developments in industry, JCE has become a world class school of engineering. Its hundreds of graduates have been welcomed eagerly for employment by high tech companies and by universities offering advanced studies towards Masters and Ph.D. degrees in the sciences and technology. Government and municipal authorities today recognize The Jerusalem College of Engineering as a cornerstone for the future development of the city’s economy.

The Jerusalem College of Engineering campus is strategically positioned between Jerusalem’s two major high tech industrial areas, Har Hotzvim and the Malcha Technology Park. Within viewing distance of JCE is the Givat Ram Campus of the Hebrew University which houses its science faculties and the facilities associated with science based industry initiated by University’s scientists. The national government offices and the Israel Museum are also nearby. The site is located in the upscale residential area of Ramat Beit HaKerem adjacent to a park area. The new campus will be built on a ridge overlooking Menachem Begin Avenue, a main traffic artery linking the northern neighborhoods of the city with the south.

Since 1999 the student population of the College has grown from 72 students to more than 1000. Projecting the current growth rate to the academic year beginning in 2014 will bring the number to over 2500. The Jerusalem College of Engineering acquired its present campus and facilities from the national government. In the college’s desire to move ahead the existing buildings, which are now more than 45 years old, were put into use. Today these buildings have become burdensome in that they require constant expensive repair and renovation and their scattered and unplanned placement on the campus does not lend itself to the efficient, cost-effective use of the available space. JCE’s policy makers have come to the inevitable conclusion that in order to maintain the college’s goals, a modern campus able to keep up with the dynamic changing world of high tech must replace the existing buildings.

The plan for the new campus will combine functionality and esthetics with a view to increasing access to the college. Thought has been given to intensifying the social ambience of the college and to the circulation of people and vehicles. A central square will be created bordered by the administration building, the library and student center and the first academic building. This square will be the entrance to the college for all students and visitors and will become the focal point of public life for JCE. From the square students going to class can enter an exterior tree lined avenue or an interior concourse that will connect all the buildings of the campus. The alignment of the concourse along the traffic flow of the existing campus will allow for new construction, as funds become available, while the existing buildings continue to function.

Utilizing the sloping topography of the campus site, the plan calls for the creation of parking lots by creating terraces with easy access to the concourse. The laboratory building, which will span the entire length of the campus and be built below ground level, will have windows open to the surrounding environment.