Building projects

​Construction of a new lab building will soon get underway at Campus Groenenborger. This building is an important feature of the new masterplan for the campus. A green ‘heart’ and central pedestrian promenade will also help make it clear that pedestrians and cyclists come first.​

Building Z opened its doors on Groenenborgerlaan as the new, modern home for the Faculty of Applied Engineering in 2016. The other buildings on Campus Groenenborger, which lies next to the Middelheim Museum, are mainly used by the Faculty of Science and date back to the 1970s. The University of Antwerp has grown a lot in recent years – it’s important that the infrastructure keeps pace.

'We developed a masterplan for the entire Groenenborger campus', explains Prof. Bart Heijnen, UAntwerp’s general director. The campus is fully functional, but we're missing that real campus feeling. We want to change that by creating a green heart with a promenade in the coming years. We're also adding a whole new lab building, which will house research groups from the Department of Chemistry. The building will also be home to a central meeting place for everyone on campus.'

The new building was designed by dbv architecten in collaboration with design consultancy firm Arcadis. 'We opted for a design with eight floors, one of which is underground', explains Stefaan Van Heeswyck (dbv architecten). 'In this project, a focus on sustainability is expressed in the compact and flexible design of the building, and of course in the use of energy-efficient technologies. For example, the centrally installed heat pumps can be used for both cooling and heating, and any leftover heat and cold can be buffered for later use.'

Underneath the new building, there will be a large bicycle parking area. This will symbolise the modal shift that is taking place throughout the entire campus. 'From now on, pedestrians and cyclists will come first', says Lieven Willems, head of the Infrastructure Department at UAntwerp. 'We’re also going to construct 10 000 m² of parking space in a way that allows water to filter through into the soil below. And when construction is completed, the campus will have 108 more trees than it does today.'

The construction works on Campus Groenenborger are set to begin on 31 May 2021. The groundwater drained from the site will be pumped into a pond in the neighbouring Middelheim Park. By the start of academic year 2023-2024, the new building should be in use and the campus will have a completely different atmosphere.