University of Amsterdam building LAB42 reaches highest point at Amsterdam Science Park

29 June 2021

The construction of the new LAB42 building (15,000 m2) at Amsterdam Science Park reached its highest point (about 28 metres) on Tuesday, 29 June 2021, reason for the University of Amsterdam (UvA) to thank everyone who has worked hard on the construction of LAB42 in recent months and, true to tradition, hoist the flags to the highest point together with Visser & Smit Bouw and Kropman Installatietechniek. The building is being developed sustainably and is energy-neutral.

Successful construction

In cooperation with the municipality of Amsterdam, Amsterdam Science Park will have a building designed to encourage cooperation between students, researchers and entrepreneurs in the field of Informatics and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Users of the Faculty of Science, the Innovation Centre for Artificial Intelligence (ICAI), companies and other organisations will move into LAB42 in academic year 2022-2023. Project leader Marlies Veldman of the UvA says she is proud that LAB42 has reached its highest point: ‘Construction has progressed very quickly since the first pile was driven in September 2020. Amsterdam Science Park will soon have a very special circular and energy-neutral building. The building will be an important meeting place for the academic community and companies and a place where local residents are also welcome.’

Ecosystem

With inviting facilities, the building facilitates a unique ecosystem in the field of Informatics and AI. Director of Operations, Chris Marcelis: 'LAB42 will be home to a remarkable concept that will allow students, educators, researchers and entrepreneurs to co-create. It will offer a base to entrepreneurs with great ideas, particularly those representing SMEs. Businesses with a presence at LAB42 will feel like they are embedded in the academic community. The place will be teeming with young talent. Moreover, LAB42 is an initiative that will allow us to forge ties with multiple regional, national and international parties.’

Sustainable and circular

LAB42 has a sustainable design. Building features will include solar collectors, smart cooling for the servers, and a rainwater reservoir to collect water to flush toilets with. The frame of the building is a steel skeleton which can be fully dismantled, as can the floor elements, dividing walls and façade. Where possible, reusable and recyclable components have been used, making the building an example of circular construction. LAB42 is being realized by Visser & Smit Bouw in collaboration with Kropman Installatietechniek and designed by Benthem Crouwel Architects (BCA).

Promoting interaction and cooperation

Catering facilities will be available in the atrium, teaching and lecture rooms will be located on the first and second floors, while meeting rooms, offices for SMEs and lounge areas for people to meet in will be created on the third floor. It will be possible to lease space in the building too. The top floors of the building will be reserved for the offices of the Informatics Institute and the Faculty of Science's Institute for Logic, Language and Computation. The second through fifth floors will also feature AI labs for the ICAI, which is dedicated to developing AI technologies in collaborative research labs, set up in partnership with the business sector, government and knowledge institutions.

More information about LAB42

For more information, please visit our campus website.

If you currently have any questions about the construction or would you like to be kept up to date about LAB42 in the future, please send an email to Simon de Roo, omgevingsmanager-rec@uva.nl or subscribe to the newsletter here.