Joint ULB-VUB facility to open in 2025

A joint facility shared by Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB) and Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB) will open in Ixelles in early 2025, providing students of both institutions with individual study areas, experimentation centres and high-tech equipment supporting knowledge exchange.

The new learning environments will be part of a building called the Learning and Innovation Centre (LIC), the universities jointly announced, built by Brussels public building authority Beliris.

“The LIC was conceived as an incubation chamber for innovation and a network centre for scientists, experts from business and civil society organisations – a place where research, exchange and training come together,” the universities said.

“The university building will be progressive in all aspects. It will use the latest technologies to support student development and offer diverse learning environments: quiet rooms for individual study, classrooms for collaborative work, experimentation centres for small-group activities and active learning rooms.”

The facility will boast eight floors, including a basement. The shell will be finished in July of this year and the universities will begin furnishing and equipment installation.

With a total area of 9,000m², the LIC will accommodate 1,000 people, 80% of whom will be students, with 10% academic staff and 10% external visitors.

The building is a "near-zero energy building" constructed from sustainable materials and with a very compact footprint to reduce heat loss, the universities said, adding that energy consumption will be optimised through the use of sensors.

The total budget for the building is €24.2 million, of which 87% will be paid by Beliris and 13% by the universities.