O&N1bis is a research building at KU Leuven. It houses both the Molecular Small Animal Imaging Centre (moSAIC) and the Competence Center for Anatomy and a diversity of biotechnology laboratories. Ingenium was responsible for both the design and follow-up of the technical installation, the mandatory feasibility study and the energy study within the framework of a renewed environmental permit.

The basement floor houses the MOlecular Small Animal Imaging Center which will house the facilities for various research rooms, including MRI facilities. Next, two building floors were specifically designed for the Anatomy Skills Center, including various dissection rooms, practical rooms and classrooms for students and researchers. During the design, for example, a test facility was built and tested so that the rooms ensure a healthy working/learning environment (cfr. separate and very specific ventilation concepts). Above that, the building received 4 building layers of biotech laboratories and associated writing spaces. In these layers all techniques were designed and planned so that a flexible filling in per lab module is possible. This construction of the models allows defasement between design primary structures and fixtures and brings high flexibility to the building.

The diverse use of the building brings together medical gases, lab gases, distribution of city water, RO water, process water, rain water, passenger and freight elevators, anatomy-specific equipment, various ventilation and air conditioning concepts.

BIM was used for the following components:

• Dynamic thermal and energy simulations.
• Simulation of energy performance and comfort levels.
• Automation of various design tasks: sizing of plant components, lighting calculations and preparation of measurement records.
• Clash detection on the different discipline models.

For this project, we collaborated with Abscis Architecten (architecture) and Norbert Provoost (study stability).