Jos opens the door of his apartment in the former school building with a big smile. “I’m completely zen again. I no longer have any noise pollution.” The 70-year-old retiree has lived in De Meester since June 2022. The former school had just been completed as a residential complex.
The building looks beautiful, but is a bit noisy. Not strange in itself for a former school with high corridors and wide stairs. But at Jos, the noise pollution was rampant. His downstairs neighbors had a washing machine on a mezzanine floor, exactly below Jos’ bedroom. That washing machine caused so many vibrations that Jos made one functional neurological disorder was left with. As a result, he slept very poorly and had to undergo therapy with a psychiatrist.
New downstairs neighbors
But that misery is now over, says Jos. “At one point it struck me that I hadn’t heard anything for a while. That was in May of this year. Then it turned out that my old downstairs neighbors had moved. The new residents have their washing machine in exactly the same place, but I don’t hear anything about it. Maybe there was something wrong with the old neighbors’ machine.”
And so the pleasure of living in De Meester is back. “I was already thinking about moving and I was also working on a lawyer after 2.5 years of misery. But then those girls left and I am very happy about that. My life has really changed since May. I am going my own way.”
Text continues under the photo.