The House of Letters will be the largest building at the University of Latvia Academic Center in Torņakalns and at the University of Latvia in general. It will house as many students as the current Nature and Science Houses combined.
The buildings currently used by the University of Latvia for humanities and social sciences studies are dilapidated, inaccessible to people with reduced mobility, and otherwise outdated.
Next year, the University's six faculties will move to Torņakalns, where they will have new premises.
"There will be historians, linguists, philosophers, theologians, economists, social scientists and journalists," said Indriķis Muižnieks, rector of the University of Latvia.
There will also be political scientists, teachers and psychologists, several institutes, an interdisciplinary innovation center, a business incubator and more.
The development plan of the University of Latvia states that the Academic Center in Torņakalns will house almost all faculties, and the future building will allow it to get closer to the goal.
The cost of the House of Lettera is almost €48 million. The construction procurement was successful only the second time, as the first procurement was terminated due to a corruption scandal in which three persons were accused of bribing someone to make decisions in favor of them. The case is still pending in court.
"So we have also gained a lot of experience and we understand much more precisely where the risk is and the persons involved in the implementation of these projects," Muižnieks said.
The University of Latvia also plans to build a Technology House, a Health House, and dormitories on its academic campus in Torņakalns.
