De La Salle University - Campus

Campus

The DLSU campus consists of 19 buildings (nine classroom buildings and 10 other buildings for administrative and auxiliary functions) located on a 5.45 ha (13.5-acre) lot in 2401 Taft Avenue Malate, Manila. DLSU faces to its right the Taft Campus of De La Salle – College of Saint Benilde, another DLSP institution, and the Vito Cruz Station of the Manila LRT Yellow Line. As part of the University Belt, several other colleges and universities, including St. Scholastica's College and Philippine Women's University, can be found near to the campus.

The buildings have a combined floor area of 136,685.98 m2 (1,471,275.6 sq ft), and mostly feature neoclassical design. These include:

• St La Salle Hall, the first building in the campus. The four-storey neoclassical building, completed in 1924, was designed by Tomás Mapúa, the first Filipino registered architect and subsequent founder of Mapúa Institute of Technology. St La Salle Hall has undergone retrofitting since 2010, and is planned for completion by 2012. The LaSallian, the official student newspaper of the university, identifies it as "DLSU's most historic building." Likewise, it is the only Philippine structure featured in 1001 Buildings You Must See Before You Die: The World’s Architectural Masterpieces, a book published by Quintessence Editions Ltd. in 2007.
• St Joseph Hall, a six-storey building completed in 1956. It was the location of the DLSU library from 1956 to 1985. It houses DLSU's Discipline Office.
• Velasco Hall, a five-storey building completed in 1981. It houses the College of Engineering.
• Don Enrique T. Yuchengco Hall, a nine-storey neoclassical building. Completed in 2002, the building hosts 20 classrooms, six conference rooms, DLSU's administrative offices and the Teresa G. Yuchengco Auditorium, a three-storey 1,100-seater auditorium. It has a total floor area of 12,254 m2 (131,900 sq ft).
• Br. Andrew Gonzalez Hall, a 21-storey 90-meter tall neoclassical building, making it the tallest academic building in the Philippines. It has a total floor area of 28,000 m2 (300,000 sq ft), and has parking space for up to 120 cars. The building, completed in 2006, houses more than 100 classrooms and faculty rooms, and the College of Education.

Construction of the Henry Sy Sr. Hall began on December 2, 2010 as part of the university's Centennial Renewal Plan, a project that aims to construct and renovate facilities inside the campus. A 15-floor building, it replaced DLSU's football field with plans for completion by December 2012. It is estimated to cost ₱1.4 billion (US$32.5 million). In line with this, DLSU entered an eight-year agreement with the Philippine Sports Commission. Under the contract, DLSU will fund the ₱7.4 million (US$171,000) renovation of the Rizal Memorial Track and Football Stadium. DLSU will get to use the facilities in return.

The campus, which is relatively small in size for its large student population, suffers limited space. According to The LaSallian each student had only 7.1 m2 (76 sq ft) for himself in 2009. Crowding is expected to only get worse as the university's population has been continuously growing with the growth for 2008–2009 amounting to 27.7 percent. It has also expressed concerns regarding fire safety, citing possible evacuation difficulties should a fire occur at the Br. Andrew Gonzalez Hall, and accessibility issues for fire trucks given the lack of wide roads to major buildings. At least three fires has occurred in the campus, including two at St. Joseph Hall. To address the problem regarding limited space, DLSU has resolved to vertical expansion. But this has resulted to overcrowded elevators.

Likewise, DLSU has expressed interest in merging with De La Salle Canlubang (DLSC). Although smaller (5 ha; 2 acres), only 0.6 ha (1.5 acres) of DLSC's campus is developed. Under the proposal, DLSU would expand the Colleges of Engineering, Computer Studies and Science to DLSC's campus due to its location inside the Laguna Technopark. DLSU fears, however, that it might lose some of its students due to the DLSC campus's distance from Manila (around 42 km).