UvA buildings | Box REC-V was a headache for years
It seemed simple: the UvA was bursting at the seams, and on the Roeterseiland campus there was still a small vacant lot. Perfect for new lecture halls. But rarely had the construction of a UvA location taken place under such unfavorable circumstances as when the REC-V education building was built. What happened?
You can still see the old layout on Google Street View: a green area with waving grass and planted hedges. Not very peaceful, being situated right next to a parking lot and bike shed, but the neighborhood was still attached to it. Petit Versailles, they affectionately called the little park, referring to the French castle with its paradise-like gardens.
The UvA, on the other hand, saw an opportunity in the area. The university had experienced taking emergency measures before due to room constraints. In 2017, for example, students were housed in a floating lecture tent due to delays in the construction of REC-A. Due to unforeseen growth in student numbers, more lecture hall space was needed overall. The three faculties on campus (Law, Economics & Business Administration, and Social & Behavioral Sciences) had needed additional lecture halls for years, due in part to the influx of international students.
Thus, in 2018, the Executive Board adopted a long-term plan to construct a multipurpose teaching building—budgeted cost: €9.8 million—on the vacant REC lot, including a lecture hall for a thousand students. The first lectures were expected to take place in the 2019/2020 academic year.
“A coffin”
But starting with the very first information evenings—the neighborhood must be kept informed of and involved in such construction projects—local residents of the Sarphatistraat and the Sarphati blocks objected. They spoke of “an 18-meter-high coffin” and feared “a tacky, built-up new neighborhood.” They argued that the UvA should have foreseen the growth, and wrote scathing opinions. Among other things, the UvA countered that the campus was a developing site, meaning that the building was never finished. Several studies were done. One plan B foresaw locating students in the Maagdenhuis or on Hogehilweg in Southeast, but building in other places proved financially and functionally unfeasible for the university.
The wrangling with the neighborhood was not the only thing causing delays. The construction industry was overheated, building prices were skyrocketing, and building plans were too expensive. As of 2020, not a single brick had been laid. Meanwhile, the university decided to postpone the opening to 2022 and set aside over €4 million in extra funding.
The coronavirus crisis turned these plans upside down. Suddenly, campuses were empty and students were attending lectures online. What did this mean for the future of education? And would international students come to UvA at all in the coming years? UvA board member Jan Lintsen explained in Folia that more space needed to be created for physical (in-person) contact and small groups. A lecture hall for a thousand people did not fit into that plan, so in 2021 the UvA called off the construction of REC-V. A cost savings came in handy, as the new University Library turned out to be more expensive than planned. But at the same time, Lintsen warned the relieved local residents around REC-V that the UvA still had a building permit, so future construction could still take place on the postage stamp park.
That warning proved justified. In early 2022, almost two years after the start of the pandemic, the university welcomed students back to its campuses en masse and the plans for REC-V were fished out of the drawer. The temporary building, 11 meters high, 45 meters long, and 35 meters wide, would remain for 5 to 10 years and be divided into small lecture halls. A month later, an excavator was already digging up the lawn. The opening was scheduled for September 2022—this time for real.
And so it happened. The permit came, for 10 years, and that September the container-like building opened its doors with its 24 teaching rooms, coffee makers, an elevator, and a total of almost 3,000 square meters of floor space. On the outside, ivy cuttings climbed hopefully up the façades.
Toasts were made with croissants, wraps, and champagne. “It was an exciting journey, but here stands a relieved man,” said Jan Lintsen.
Meanwhile, students from various programs find their way to lecture halls in the building. All that remains of Petit Versailles is the ‘V’—small consolation for the neighborhood. Perhaps they can find solace in that other piece of fallow greenery left on campus: Roetersweiland.
