23 April 2026
Since autumn 2025, intensive work has been under way on the UvA Accommodation Plan, focusing on the renovation of the historic Oudemanhuispoort complex in the University Quarter, a sustainable quantum lab and residential development at Amsterdam Science Park, sport at Roeterseiland and, of course, the perennial search for more study places.
In the new UvA Perspectives podcast episode, the Vice-President provides an update on the path towards decision-making on the Accommodation Plan, which is expected before summer 2026. A public-facing version is in preparation. The participation bodies have the right of advice on the Accommodation Plan.
LabQ will be a new UvA building in which the university, together with various partners, will further strengthen Amsterdam’s quantum ecosystem. With support from a Growth Fund contribution, the campus will gain a central hub for quantum research, where a significant part of the faculty involved and the quantum research groups will be housed.
As with Lab42 in the field of AI, LabQ is being developed as an open innovation environment where researchers, students, entrepreneurs and other parties collaborate on the growth of the quantum domain and on groundbreaking technologies. 'Much is still unknown, but that is exactly the kind of challenge we as a university want to take on,' says Goldstein.
The UvA is preparing a carefully managed renovation of Oudemanhuispoort and BG5. The aim is to future-proof and make these listed buildings more sustainable with as few invasive alterations as possible. Following internal consultation, the university has chosen to remain in the University Quarter—despite the higher costs of building and renovation in the city centre—and to concentrate its city campus there.
In time, the PC Hoofthuis will be vacated, allowing Oudemanhuispoort, BG5 and the BG1–4 buildings, together with central UvA facilities such as the new University Library, to form an attractive home base for the Faculty of Humanities.
Together with the City of Amsterdam and housing associations, the UvA is exploring the construction of a residential tower of around 70 metres at Science Park, with more than 300 housing units for students and staff. Although the university itself is not permitted to provide student housing, there is space at Science Park to allocate land for new homes in collaboration with partners.
In the joint area vision with the municipality, this location has already been designated as a preferred site for additional housing, which largely clears the way for permits and further plan development. Talks with the municipality are serious and constructive; the UvA hopes to take important next steps in the coming year.
Local broadcaster AT5 reported on crowding in the UB. The new University Library is a popular place for students. The UvA is working on measures to better regulate pressure on study places—for example, by addressing and discouraging the so-called “towel-dropping”: reserving places without being present.
During peak periods such as exam weeks, extra capacity is created by taking teaching rooms out of the timetable and temporarily converting them into study areas.
In these weeks demand for study places is high while less teaching takes place, and careful coordination allows for a substantial increase in the number of available study places.
In the podcast, Richard Goldstein looks in depth at the dilemmas and trade-offs and the participation process—and at what this will mean in concrete terms for the city, and for UvA students and staff.