The jury honoured the UvA University Library, designed by MVSA Architects in collaboration with Buro van Stigt and commissioned by the University of Amsterdam, with the prestigious architecture award. According to the jury: “This way of adding extra layers, subdividing and densifying within existing contexts is, in the jury’s view, the future of the built environment.”

From the jury report: On some of the most expensive square metres in Amsterdam, the University Library provides a non-commercial study space for students. It is a powerful and necessary statement that an important academic function has thus been preserved in the heart of the inner city. The jury has deep admiration for the years-long effort to preserve this listed monument and give it a beautiful new purpose. The Library is an oasis of calm that completes the bustling inner-city campus.

Upon entering, the jury is immediately struck by the convincing “vibe” and the openness of the tall, light-filled atrium. The jury is full of praise for the way in which the new interventions have transformed the historic Binnengasthuis into a magical space. The glass roof of “the tree (or leaf) of knowledge” connects the former hospital buildings in a natural and self-evident way.