It goes without saying that the Flemish biotech sector is in full expansion. To accommodate this development, VIB - with PMV as co-financier - is building a state-of-the-art bio-incubator that will also house VIB's new headquarters on the new technology campus at Tech Lane Ghent Science Park, Campus Eiland, along the E40 highway. Designed by Modulo Architects, Stéphane Beel Architects, and engineering companies Istema and Establis, this building addresses the increasing demand for customized lab infrastructure and will also become the new biotope of VIB's supporting services. The bio-incubator will accommodate ten to fifteen start-up biotech companies. The proximity of knowledge institutions with the necessary expertise and talents provides an excellent nurturing ground for young start-ups.

With its unique location on the Eiland Zwijnaarde industrial estate along the E40 highway, and also right on the entrance to the park, the complex will act as a gatekeeper for the park's research zone. The winning design by Modulo, SBA, Istema and Establis gives shape to this building that will be both compact and functional, and in which the VIB headquarters and the new bio-incubator will flow harmoniously into each other.

The building, which emerges as a vertical screen, consists of two parts: a dynamic and (inter)active side on the E40 and a creative side on the campus. This duality is intensified by the buffering effect of the building. It acts as an acoustic screen in regard to the E40 and protects the campus/knowledge zone behind it. The structure of the building consists of flat, two-way load-bearing floors, fitted with weight-saving elements, which bear on the concrete walls in the facades and of the stairs and elevators and on a number of concrete columns. In this manner, it was possible to design a very flexible building, with large column-free spans. On the side of the technology park, the top 2 levels - where the VIB offices are located - are cantilevered several meters over the lower levels, where the bio-incubators are provided. The building is founded on soil displacement screw piles.

Specific to this case is further that construction is taking place on a sludge landfill. Therefore, the building had to be provided sufficiently high so that all underground elements could be provided above this depot, as well as all sewage and such. Only the pile foundation was allowed to pass through the landfill, while avoiding mixing of the different layers.