'this building is more than a learning machine'

The university of applied sciences building we designed in the Sluisbuurt has been in use for a year and a half. The new district in Amsterdam East is taking shape: the ferry to Borneo-Sporenburg runs every fifteen minutes and residents have moved in. The library branch and coffee bar on the ground floor are now open. Faculty dean Bas van Spréw likes to sit in the central hall, where he sees the building inviting students and lecturers to connect.

at the centre of society
Inholland university of applied sciences moved from three locations across Amsterdam and Diemen into one large new building. It opened in September 2024 and already brings life to the Sluisbuurt, partly because it houses a library branch and a coffee bar. Inholland values sustainability and a resilient society, and wants to stand at the heart of that society. The architecture translates that ambition into extensive glass partitions and a route with stairs, seating and plants running through the heart of the building. This central hall spans four floors, the tallest volume rises to nine.

collaboration
Around seven thousand students from three faculties use the building, alongside 950 lecturers and staff. Bas van Spréw was branch director during the design and construction phases and now leads the faculty of Business, Law and Creative Industries. His faculty shares the building with the faculty of Health, Education and Welfare, the faculty of Nature and Technology, the Inholland Academy and the ROC of Amsterdam. He is enthusiastic about the transparency and clarity of the building, both of which match Inholland's educational philosophy. "We think it's important that students and lecturers collaborate and know each other. Your design encourages this by making sure people run into one another."

interplay
Since the building opened, requests for guided tours have poured in. Bas: "We've had so many visitors, from the Amsterdam municipality and others, from schools, and from architectural practices in the Netherlands and abroad. The building has real pull. Student applications rose significantly this year and last. That's genuinely down to the interplay between the building and the people in it. Our educational concept works better than before, when we were spread across three locations."

societal questions
External organisations also like to use the building for meetings. The university makes an exception for neighbourhood initiatives, but otherwise requests are now on hold. "The sheer volume of requests was getting in the way of our core work," Bas says. "But like other universities of applied sciences, we want to contribute to solving societal questions. There is always room for neighbourhood meetings and the like. Society is not a theory, it begins the moment you step outside. That's also why there is a coffee bar and library branch on the ground floor. In the café you literally run into each other. We work with Baggerbeest, the creative incubator nearby, and arrange things on behalf of the neighbourhood, such as extending the ferry's evening hours."

good morning
Bas likes working from a stool in the central hall. "From there I see how the slow staircase makes sure you run into people. You described it as an Italian hill town, and that's right. It invites you to connect. Students here don't stare at their shoes. With this hall and staircase, the corridors and balustrades, you designed 'accidental meeting places'. I see students leaning over the railing, waving at each other. The building almost forces you to say good morning. That's good for the wellbeing of students and staff."

practice what you preach
The contact between students and lecturers using the building strengthens collaboration in teaching and research, Bas says. "The building is so open, you see everyone. The brief outlined the contours of education in 2030, and those contours took shape in the building. You can just see it works. I think it's hugely successful and exactly what we had in mind. Our educational concept of continuous collaboration comes into its own. Where you used to have to go out of your way to work together, now you're neighbours. The building makes our educational vision tangible. 'Practice what you preach'. I love that."

transparency
Is there really nothing that needed adjusting in eighteen months? Bas: "Only a handful of small interventions, such as mobile power sockets and the option to temporarily close off a glass partition when privacy or focus is needed. That last one really is temporary. We believe in transparency and plenty of glass. The transparency is what carries the building. The balance of the interior is immediately disturbed once glass walls are closed off. The visible transparency reinforces the sense of space and the building's connecting effect."

sticky
There are many definitions of 'campus', but 'sticky campus' is unambiguous: it's a place where you stay after class. During the run-up to Inholland's new building, the Student Advisory Team contributed ideas. Twenty students from different programmes proposed a games room, visible spaces for student associations and living-room-style lounges. An educational space, they said, should inspire through contact with lecturers and fellow students, and should also be somewhere you can study in peace when that isn't possible at home.

more than a learning machine
Looking back, the students consider their mission a success, according to Inholland's website. "I've just been playing table tennis with someone from a different programme, really nice!" one student says. "The building is spacious, open and bright. It's nicely furnished, you sit comfortably and end up staying longer. You share spaces with other programmes and cross paths along the way." Bas too has the impression that students feel at home here. "They clearly don't come just for the lessons. This building is more than a learning machine. It's striking how busy it still is at five on a Friday. You see students working or hanging out in all sorts of corners of the building. That, after all, is what a living room is for."

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