Universiteitscampus Spui — entrance hall seen from the wide stair, with access gates and a copper-coloured revolving door

Spui University Campus

Education — The Hague

From department store to university campus: a well-known building once again gets a completely new interior.

Summary

For Spui University Campus in the heart of The Hague, we delivered all of the bespoke interior. A special project in the former V&D building, where we had previously worked on the interiors for V&D and Hudson's Bay, and to which we now returned for its transformation into a modern university campus.

Client

Leiden University

Sector

Education & Public

Location

Spui, The Hague

Completed

2026

Universiteitscampus Spui — atrium stair with walnut-look stringers and a glass balustrade under rooflights

Project

The former V&D department store on the Spui has been transformed into a shared university campus for teaching, research, working and meeting: more than 20,000 m² of study and work space, used every day by around 4,000 people from Leiden University, TU Delft, LUMC, the Open University and Universities of the Netherlands (UNL), the umbrella organisation of the Dutch universities. For us it is a special building: we previously built interiors here for V&D and later for Hudson's Bay, and returned once again for its newest use to deliver all of the bespoke interior.

Universiteitscampus Spui — long cognac leather wall bench against a walnut planter with sansevierias, with small tables and wooden chairs

Universiteitscampus Spui — seating niche with oak panelling, two ochre benches on an oak base and a white table

Approach

The campus brings together lecture halls, study and work spaces, offices, meeting areas, a restaurant and various shared facilities. The interior draws on the building's history, including dark wood tones that refer to the original wooden panelling. For us, this meant an extensive amount of bespoke work, technically engineered, produced and installed for a wide range of spaces and functions. With five organisations under one roof, the interests of the different stakeholders also had to be carefully managed: each wanted its own style to come through in its own department.

Universiteitscampus Spui — row of cork stools in front of a long bench with green cushions and a planter

Universiteitscampus Spui — serving counter with a terrazzo-look front and a bronze-coloured folding gate

Universiteitscampus Spui — sage-green cabinet wall with open niches

Universiteitscampus Spui — boardroom with a walnut meeting table with a leaf-shaped inlay pattern

Universiteitscampus Spui — canteen with an oak bench with built-in planter and a view over The Hague

Universiteitscampus Spui — pantry with taupe base cabinets, a green tiled wall with a lit shelf and an oak high table with bar stools

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Detail

Its scale and variety make this project special. From bespoke pieces for study and meeting areas to interior elements within the various teaching, work and lounge environments, the bespoke work forms a recognisable part of the interior throughout the building.

Universiteitscampus Spui — bronze handrail on the walnut wall, with a planter above

Universiteitscampus Spui — the atrium stair from above, with oak treads and a bronze-coloured handrail

Universiteitscampus Spui — corner of the walnut wall cladding with skirting on the mosaic floor

Credits

Interior design:: Sweco Architects

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