Manresa Hall, the newest addition to the SLU-Madrid campus, opened this September with six classrooms, a conference room, and labs for engineering, communications and nursing majors.
About 250 meters away from San Ignacio Hall, the 1,000-square-foot building on Calle de Max Aub allows the university to offer more class options and times.
“We used to only have two labs for the whole campus, making class times so inconvenient,” third-year student Grace Miclot said. “I would have labs until 10 p.m. But now, I finish in the afternoon like most other people.”
Before the building opened, Luke Marty-McAuliff, an art history major, said he would have trouble finding slots available in required classes. “Without the new options, I not only would have had to graduate later, but also pay for another semester at SLU,” he said.
Students often remark on the hall’s modern design and amenities.
“If you didn’t know better, you might think Manresa Hall belonged to an entirely different university,” said Michaela Earl, a permanent student at SLU-Madrid. “The windows let in lots of light, which makes a difference in the classrooms, but there’s frosted glass, so you’re not distracted by people passing in the hallway.”
Many students, including Joachim Settani, a third-year student, commented on the hall’s high-end ambiance.
“I feel like I’m walking into a luxury hotel every time I come here,” Settani said. “It’s newer—a more sterile environment compared to the older buildings.”
Alex Hilliard, an international business major and recent transfer student, welcomed the modern atmosphere.
“I would usually walk into the classrooms with a slight feeling of disappointment due to the antiquated feel,” he said. “I like the community at SLU more than at my previous college, but I can’t really say the same for the campus.”
“I was always a little jealous of my friends who go to IE, simply because of the new tower, ” he added.
The upgrades extend beyond classrooms. Senior Baker Thomas said the improved bathroom facilities were a welcome change from the older facilities on campus.
“The bathrooms in Manresa…they’re kinda weird!” Thomas said with a laugh. “There are stalls with full doors, like a private room just for the bathroom.”
Students especially appreciated the large, backlit mirrors in the bathrooms, which Josie Furr, a junior, called “a big plus” for the campus’s Instagram-savvy crowd.
Earl agreed: “So good for taking selfies.”
As president of the Engineering Club, Furr described Manresa Hall as “the best thing that ever happened to Saint Louis University’s Madrid campus.”
“Last year, and all the years prior, the physics, biology, electrical engineering, normal engineering – those were all combined, which meant that we had no space to store our equipment for our projects,” Furr said. “If you had a big class it was genuinely hard to fit everyone, and it was hard to do demonstrations.”
Furr said the lab contains a big metal table and a whiteboard, which is useful for collaborative ideas.
“Right now it’s being used for prototyping, which is super cool,” she said.
Furr said the new lab will allow the engineering club to perform different lab experiments and demonstrations. It’s way more of an inventive space,” she said.
Javier Sauras, a communication professor, said Manresa’s new media lab “caters to three basic needs: One is audio producing and recording—anything from journalism to filmmaking. We also have equipment for photography and video recording, including cameras, lenses, gimbals, and light rings.”
Sauras noted that this is the first semester the media lab has been operational, with plans still taking shape.
“In a few months, everyone in the university will be able to do things here, either in their classes or on their own,” he said. “This is very, very new for all of us… but the idea is that in the future, all students will have access to it.”
He envisions students using the space as a “communication hub” for personal projects, such as podcasts, music recordings, or even poetry.
“The student body at SLU-Madrid is very creative, so I am very much looking forward to seeing what the students come up with,” Sauras said.
