The relocation of the Faculty of Science is part of the refurbishment of our campus buildings and the Zuidas area development. The knowledge district that includes the university will be transformed into an Innovation District.
Outdated W&N building
Due to technical obsolescence of the current W&N Building, new housing is necessary. The building from 1964 no longer complies with the current functional and spatial requirements of our high-level research and education. In this context the decision was made to replace rather than renovate almost the entire W&N building.
A small part, the A and B wings, will remain and will be renovated. A cooperation agreement was signed with the City of Amsterdam for the purpose of this project. As part of this agreement, VU Amsterdam will be trading land with the municipality, allowing the university to construct new buildings and demolish most of the W&N. Ownership of the land can then be transferred to the municipality.
Spread across campus
The Faculty of Science is currently and will continue to be spread across campus buildings including the O|2 Lab Building, the New University Building, and the VU Research Building which is currently under construction at the site of the former Schoolwerktuinen. The Health Sciences department has already relocated to the Faculty of Medicine building. In 2023, BV Cyclotron and the Radionuclide Centre and others will be moving to the Amsterdam UMC Imaging Centre. One of the LaserLab VU departments will also relocate to the Imaging Centre and another is scheduled to move into the LaserLab at the new VU Research Building.
The W&N’s A and B wings will become a self-contained building, that will open in 2026. It will continue to house Faculty of Science groups after the renovation work has been completed. W&N-AB will also house some of the teaching rooms and laboratories. For a short explanation about the Faculty of Science relocation, please check out this video clip.
Growth
The growth of the Faculty of Science complicates the relocation challenge and creates bigger challenges for VU Amsterdam than expected at the beginning of the planning stages. The complete housing challenge for users, functions and campus facilities from W&N is slowly becoming clearer. In addition to employees from the Faculty of Science, parties involved include the SPAR supermarket, Amsterdam Venture Studio and Demonstrator Lab, study associations, workshops, 3D (debate, dialogue and diversity), logistics, storage rooms, etc.