VU Amsterdam, a renown Dutch university, gets a new beating heart of the Campus in the form of a sustainable and multifunctional New University Building measuring 31.000 m2. In the twelve story, trapezoid building in Amsterdam's Zuidas district, education, science, culture and business join under a single roof. Thanks to the flexible spaces in the building, these different activities can take turns. Lecture halls are also suitable as theatre and film rooms. Furthermore, the building houses catering establishments and a range of services, such as shops and a multimedia library. Underneath the building, a subterranean parking for approximately 600 cars and 1.600 bikes is created.

Team V Architecture has designed the building. Royal HaskoningDHV joined as the building services consultant and contributes to a flexible and sustainable building with novel and energy-efficient installations. The New University Building has been awarded the 4-star BREEAM Design Certificate. This second highest sustainability score is unique for an educational building. The Slimline floor system significantly contributes to the sustainability ambitions. The precast floor elements offer benefits in the fields of material use (less concrete), waste management, construction site and environmental management. Slimline also supports energy-efficient indoor climate control and the separation of constructive structure and building services in the use phase. This allows permanent access to the building services in the floor, which makes it possible to conveniently change floor layouts or even create functional changes. This extends both the technical and the economical lifespan of the building.

Partly due to the application of the slender and integral Slimline floor system, the team successfully added an additional floor to the building despite the limitations in the allowed building height and an extensive program.

Video by Boele & van Eesteren