Her Majesty Queen Beatrix will open the new building of the University of Amsterdam's (UvA) Faculty of Science (FNWI) at Science Park Amsterdam on Wednesday, 24 November. The new building will bring together all of the UvA's science disciplines - teaching and research - under one roof.

The opening ceremony will start with a series of short speeches by Karel van der Toorn (president UvA Executive Board), Eberhard van der Laan (Mayor of Amsterdam) and Bart Noordam (dean of FNWI, UvA). The queen will then officially open the building.

With the completion of the new building at Science Park Amsterdam, the first of three campuses has been realised. The UvA is focusing its real estate development in certain areas of the city. In the coming years, the housing of the social sciences at the Roeterseiland district and the Humanities at the Binnengasthuisterrein district will follow. The fourth campus, home of the medical sciences (the Academic Medical Center, AMC), is already situated in Amsterdam Zuidoost (Amsterdam Southeast).

Encounters & exchanges
The design for the new building is by Rudy Uytenhaak Architects (coordinating architect), Meyer and Van Schooten Architects and Architecture Studio HH. Their assignment was to design a building that provides an optimal environment for cooperation between teaching, research and entrepreneurship, both within the faculty and with the nearby research institutes and companies at Science Park Amsterdam. The reasoning behind this is that encounters and the exchanging of ideas and experiences between people and scientific disciplines, along with cooperation between teaching and research, pave the way for renewal and innovation.

As well as being project architect for the new building, HH Architecture Studio was also responsible for the design for the renovation of the building which now functions as a laboratory building. This renovated building and the other faculty buildings at Science Park Amsterdam are connected with walkways to the new building, so that an integrated building complex has been created.

Laboratories, greenhouses & observatories
The new building includes several notable elements. It has advanced laboratories with a flexible infrastructure, the walls consisting of detachable and movable panels. The floors of the laboratories, where highly sensitive physics and chemistry research is done, are vibration-proof. There are greenhouses and climate chambers with advanced climate control for specialised biological and biochemical research . On the roof of the building, there is an observatory with a 51 cm reflecting telescope (with an extremely light-sensitive camera) and a sun umbrella for solar observations.

Science Park Amsterdam
Science Park Amsterdam, an area of approximately 70 hectares, was jointly developed by the UvA, the municipality of Amsterdam and the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) with the intention of it being an international science knowledge centre. With approximately 2.500 students and over 1.400 employees, the UvA's science faculty makes an important contribution to the vibrancy of the area. Universum, the new UvA and HvA sports centre at Science Park Amsterdam, was also officially opened recently. In 2012, Amsterdam University College (AUC), a joint venture between the UvA and VU University Amsterdam, will also locate to this area.

Time & location
The opening will take place on Wednesday, 24 November from 3.30pm to 4.45pm in the FNWI's new building, Science Park 904, 1098 XH Amsterdam. The opening ceremony is an invitation-only event.

Source: University of Amsterdam