VIB and UGent are joining forces for the construction of a new research building, which will be located next to the current VIB building on the Zwijnaarde technology park.

Ghent University and VIB (Het Vlaams Instituut voor Biotechnologie) wish to jointly develop an open plot on the Ardoyen campus:

• One is currently struggling with a lack of space.
• The group has grown considerably in recent years and will continue to expand in the future.
• The infrastructure is no longer adapted for high-tech research.
• The location is remote. Therefore, a new building will be provided. Thus, many VIB researches are gathered on 1 campus which is conducive to the interaction between the research groups.

The new building will include approximately 16,000 m² with the following components:

• Offices and conference rooms.
• Laboratories and research rooms.
• L2 and L3 laboratories.
• Greenhouses and plant growth rooms.
• Animalarium.
• BSL3-A3 laboratories.
• Restaurant.
• Parking.

In the high-security, high-tech BSL3-A3 lab, research is conducted on airborne pathogens, such as influenza and coronavirus. In Ghent, this is the first BSL3-A3 lab, which is essential to conduct such research. One can study how viruses enter and multiply in human cells and research new therapies. The corona crisis, among others, made research into airborne pathogens a social priority. Ingenium is responsible for the design of the technical installations and the follow-up of the works. Besides the classical techniques HVAC, plumbing, electricity and special gases, the equipment also includes specific installations regarding over/under pressure and HEPA filtration in the laboratories, L3/A3 spaces, additional filtration of the drains, pure water installation and a steam installation for production and distribution of steam for autoclaves and air groups.

Both during design and execution, the map of BIM methodology is fully drawn, with all parties working three-dimensionally in one model. The virtual design models are further evolved into as-built models during execution, with Ingenium supervising this coordination task, resulting in a project where all plots are meticulously coordinated with each other, to further the execution itself.

In addition to supervising the coordination assignment, Ingenium also performs some CAD-assignments, where design models are further adapted and evolved into execution and asbuilt models using the REVIT CAD software.