VU Amsterdam’s famous W&N Building takes its leave

VU University campus square is a pleasant hive of activity, thronging with students and university staff. They enjoy sandwiches at the picnic tables, play beach volleyball or quickly make their way to the next lecture. But, just twenty steps away from the beach volleyball court, all this activity comes to a rapid halt. There is a long stripe marked on the ground here. ‘The demolition site starts after that’, points out Frank Uijting. He is involved as programme manager in the dismantling of the VU Amsterdam Mathematics and Physics Building, known locally as the W&N Building. This is a large and complex demolition project and the reason why quickly becomes clear. ‘The building is right next to the campus, which needs to continue to operate while we demolish this huge building.’

This is a challenging demolition project, because with a surface area of more than 100,000 square metres and a length of 300 m, the W&N Building is quite a colossus. ‘It’s the longest university building in Europe’, says Uijting. ‘In the past, running races have actually taken place inside it.’ The building is also more than 60 years old – it reached that milestone in 2024 – and is one of the oldest buildings in Zuidas. And therein lies the problem: the accommodation is so outdated that it no longer meets the requirements for accommodating education and research.

Once inside, it becomes clear how outdated the W&N Building really is. With its low ceilings and thick walls, it almost feels like a bunker. We walk through lots of empty corridors and stairways – it is very easy to get lost here – before arriving at the building’s main entrance. Several students are standing waiting in line with their laptops. ‘This is the central section of the building. As you can see, the ICT helpdesk is still located here’, says Uijting. ‘There are also a few offices and ecology workshops still in use.’ We then come across a drinks bar on wheels. Uijting laughs. ‘Oh yes, there are also still a few study associations based here. The occupants of the central section will be moving to the west wing, which is being partially renovated. As soon as they’ve moved, we can start demolishing this central section.’

The demolition of the east wing is already in full swing, but the preparations began long ago. ‘Back at the end of 2024, the contractor already started work on the survey and the strip demolition, as it’s known’, explains Uijting. ‘That’s the preparatory, internal demolition process needed to get it back to a shell building’. That was quite a special moment, he adds. ‘There are people who’ve worked here all their lives and have emotional memories attached to the building. The Science Faculty held a kind of farewell ceremony. Someone also asked us if he could have the nameplate from one of the office doors – he’d proposed to his wife in that room. Sadly, it had already disappeared and been piled up somewhere.’