Kenniskwartier

Background

The Knowledge Quarter is an area dominated by two leading institutes in the field of education, research and healthcare: VU University Amsterdam and the VU Medical Center (VUmc). The University of Amsterdam will soon also be represented as a partner in the new Faculty of Dental Medicine. This zone is also notable for its many sporting facilities.

The metamorphosis of the university campus is necessary if VU University is to continue to offer its high standard of education to a burgeoning number of students. There will be more facilities, all tailored to meet the demands of academic life in the twenty-first century. Many of the current buildings will disappear as the campus gradually shifts in the direction of Amsterdam Zuid station on the other side of De Boelelaan.

To create a more open atmosphere, the new campus will form a seamless part of the surrounding city. Its many new and modernized buildings will include some two thousand residential units. This will link the district and the Zuidas, bringing research and commerce together to provide a fruitful cross-pollination of knowledge, research, education and innovation. Initiatives such as Amsterdam Bright City will bring the lecture hall into the very heart of Zuidas.

Some of the planned new residential units are to be built on the site of the Buitenveldert Sports Club and some on that of today's VU University campus. The sports club will not lose out: space for four new football pitches has been reserved to the south of De Boelelaan. The gardens and allotments used by the local primary and junior schools will move to a new location alongside Kalfjeslaan.

VU University and VUmc will be largely self-sufficient in terms of energy, heat and water. The new energy plan includes a sustainable generating station which will also provide airconditioning and interior climate control. The plans also provide for ultra-thin solar panels which will both generate electricity and act as heat exchangers.