Mission & history
Who are we?
The Van Orley International Student House is managed by Brik – Student in Brussels. A non-profit student services organisation affiliated with the Dutch-speaking Universities and Universities of Applied Sciencces (and Arts) in Brussels. Those are Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Erasmushogeschool Brussel, Odisee, LUCA – School of Arts and KU Leuven – campuses Brussels.
Our mission
Brik wants to provide affordable and decent housing for students in Brussels. In the Van Orley International Student House we offer short (2 weeks) to mid-term (1 semester) stays for international students that meet their specific housing needs.
We aim to offer our residents a hassle-free home during their short time here and try to be an approachable landlord. The immediate proximity of our offices – just around the corner and open every workday – helps a lot. The central and well-connected location ensures that students travel to school easily.
The Van Orley Student House is also a laboratory: We bring people together from different nationalities and backgrounds and make it work. If we may believe our ‘alumni’ this works better than we’ve all hoped for. Many still yearn for their Van Orley Family…
The house
This beautiful Beaux Arts building on the corner of one of Brussels main avenues was built in 1914 by the brothers Chambon commissioned by entrepreneur Lucien Kaisin. It initially served as the head office of the bank ‘Credit Général Hypothécaire’ which explains the grandeur it breathes.
Fast forward to 2007: after briefly being a student hotel named Brussels International Student Centre (BISC) it became known as the Van Orley International Student House. It came to meet the need many Erasmus students and interns had and still have: student housing for short stays in Brussels.
The name
Just like the street it is located in, the student residence takes its name from Barent / Bernard van Orley. He is one of the key figures of Renaissance art in the Low Countries. As a leading artist, renowned for his paintings, tapestries and stained-glass windows he was often commissioned by the 16th century European nobility. Much like many of the students living in the Van Orley Student House, his art spread all over Europe and the world.
The neighbourhood
Kruidtuin / Parc Botanique
Well connected
European Quarter
Grand Place
Nieuwstraat / Rue Neuve