The Plantijn city district is rising up around the Health & Innovation District  

Cooperation partners Sanquin, the Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, Cordaan and Centrum voor Zorg Slotervaart have joined forces to turn De Plantijn in Amsterdam Nieuw-West into an innovative city neighborhood that will add even more value to the city. A place where care, research, living and education effortlessly go hand in hand. The Plantijn is one of the six districts of the future city district Schinkelkwartier.

At the end of 2021, the Board of B & W of Amsterdam adopted the Project Note Schinkelkwartier. This plan changes the area from an isolated working area into an inclusive, lively and green city district where living and working can be combined, and where there is space and attention for business and social facilities.

The Schinkelkwartier area is situated on the border of Amsterdam New West and South, between the Nieuwe Meer/Amsterdam forest, the Zuidas and Schiphol Airport.

Business, innovative care and living
De Plantijn is located in the northwest corner of Schinkelkwartier and now houses the HID with Sanquin inside, the Antoni van Leeuwenhoek, Centrum voor Zorg Slotervaart and Cordaan’s Hof van Sloten nursing home. In the coming years these parties will work together to make the area an innovative and lively part of the city. By combining care, research, living and accommodation here, a dynamic place is created with a strong appeal to different groups.

The cooperating partners have joined forces in the Plantijn Foundation. Together they have developed a plan for the future layout of the area. This plan not only incorporates the ambitions of the partners, but also designs an overall plan for the city district with plenty of room for greenery in a low-traffic environment. The plan is in line with the Project Memorandum Schinkelkwartier of the municipality of Amsterdam and will be further elaborated and realized in cooperation with the municipality.

Rogier van den Braak, managing director of Sanquin Health Solutions, is enthusiastic about the plans: “The Health & Innovation District that Sanquin is developing on its own site brings together a great deal of knowledge and expertise in the area of health care, innovation and medical science. The joint development of De Plantijn will also ensure that our own innovation district will soon be embedded in a beautiful and green city district. This area will thus become a pleasant place to work and invites people to share, learn and innovate.”

In addition to the developments on the HID, the plans for De Plantijn mean, among other things, that a combination of housing and healthcare facilities will be realized in and next to the old Slotervaart Hospital and that the Antoni van Leeuwenhoek will be expanded. The combination of working, living and care will give De Plantijn a lively, green dynamic. “We want De Plantijn to be a neighborhood with added value for Schinkelkwartier and the city,” says Van den Braak.

Lively neighborhood with a green heart
With their plans, the four partners are taking up the challenge that the City of Amsterdam has set for Schinkelkwartier. The infrastructure of the neighborhood will be greatly improved, making it easier to navigate and providing more space for cyclists and pedestrians. The communal area will also be better laid out, with a green ‘heart’ and space for meeting in the center of this neighborhood. The City of Amsterdam has already looked at the plans and provided input. Now it is time to take further steps together, to elaborate the plans and to realize them.