Spui Building Campus The Hague

Leiden University is preparing the development of major, new university premises at Spui, in the city centre of The Hague. The building, a former department store, will provide space for some 3,000 university students and staff. The doors of the Spui Building are planned to open in September 2025.

Construction is due to start early in 2023, when the final formalities and the planning application have been approved and a contractor has been engaged. The municipality of The Hague has already issued a letter of intent indicating its support for the expansion of Campus The Hague at Spui.  

From department store to university premises 

As soon as the permit has been granted, the owner CBRE IM will embark on an eighteen-month demolition and renovation of the former department store to convert it for use as university premises. The entrance, currently on Grote Marktstraat, will be moved to Spui. More windows will be constructed in the facades, along with additional atrium spaces and stairwells to improve the overall quality of the building. 

Once the key has been handed over in September 2024, the architecture bureau selected by the university will start on the installation and furnishing. The plan is for a modern and sustainably designed building with a lot of light and transparency, and flexible study and workplaces. Next to the entrance, there will be a passageway leading to an underground bicycle storage area with space for more than 1,300 bicycles.   

In conjunction with partners 

When the Spui Building is ready for use in September 2025, the premises will probably also be used by students from other universities that rent space there. This ties in with the strong wish of Leiden University for synergetic, inter-university collaboration. No decision has been made yet about which study disciplines and institutes will be housed in the Spui Building.  

Campus The Hague 

The teaching and research at Campus The Hague closely reflect the city’s profile as city of Peace, Justice and Security, and the metropolitan, national and international character of The Hague.