Construction of a joint university building for VUB and ULB begins

The Learning and Innovation Center (LIC), designed by evr-architects, A229, Ney & Partners and Arcadis, was conceived as an incubation room for innovation and a networking centre for scientists, experts from industry and civil society organisations. It will be a place where research, exchange and training come together. Thanks to digital tools, visitors will be able to access global knowledge sources and make contacts all over the world.

The building is designed to be entirely progressive. It will employ the latest technologies to support student development and will offer diverse learning environments: quiet rooms for individual study, classrooms for collaborative work, experimentation centres for small group activities and active learning rooms.

Furthermore, it will be a near-zero energy building constructed from sustainable materials and with a compact footprint to reduce heat loss. Sensors will optimise energy consumption. 

The LIC will also bridge the two campuses, which are separated by a height difference, bringing together ULB’s Science and Technology library and VUB’s Exact and Applied Sciences library in a symbol of the close collaboration between the two universities.

The building will have eight floors, including a basement and a technical floor on the roof, representing a total area of 9,000 m². It will be able to house 1,000 people, 80% of whom will be students, 10% academic staff and 10% external visitors.

The work is being carried out by construction company Artes Roegiers and is expected to last about 2.5 years.

Quotes

Karine Lalieux, minister of pensions and social integration, responsible for Beliris

“Brussels is a rich region with many assets in terms of culture, heritage, art and science. A project such as the LIC is an absolute enrichment for Brussels as a student city and an academic and scientific pole, but also as a place of knowledge and exchange. Beliris is fulfilling its role as an investment vehicle here with verve.”

Minister-president Rudi Vervoort

“I am delighted with the arrival of this new knowledge centre in our region. The Learning and Innovation Center will be a melting pot of spaces where high-tech equipment supports the exchange of knowledge, and will bring together the libraries of exact and applied sciences. Because of its unique location, this centre will also form a bridge between the VUB and ULB campuses.”

Jan Danckaert, rector ad-interim VUB

“We are very happy with the start of the construction of the Learning and Innovation Center. Innovation today means that learning goes hand in hand with open collaboration between students, scientists and entrepreneurs. State-of-the-art technology is crucial for this. But it goes further than that: as an international knowledge centre, we want to build bridges together and find solutions for scientific and sociocultural challenges.”

Annemie Schaus, rector ULB

"The LIC was born out of the desire of our two universities to put up buildings that could integrate the development of our teaching methods by using the latest technology. It is also the symbol and a very concrete element of the interuniversity and intercommunity cooperation ULB-VUB. Thus, bridges will be built: between our two universities, ULB and VUB; between our universities and the challenges of the world around them."

Press contacts

Beliris: Elien De Swaef, 0475 85 65 77, [email protected]

VUB: Sicco Wittermans, 0473 96 41 37, [email protected]

ULB: Valérie Bombaerts, 02 650 25 34, [email protected]