Construction projects on the Utrecht Science Park

The Cambridgelaan

Several construction projects are currently in progress on the Utrecht Science Park. Cambridgelaan, for instance, has been closed to traffic for quite some time because work is being done here to move the sewers from the meadow to the road. The university is preparing the meadow west of the Cambridge complex for construction. This is where the new building of the International School Utrecht for some 1,100 school students will be built. It will be both a primary and secondary school. Construction has been delayed for several years, partly because permit applications did not go so fluently.

Cambridgelaan will reopen for motorised traffic on 1 March.

High Five SSH Complex

Construction of the High Five SSH complex has now started. It will consist of two towers with 21 floors each, providing studios and rooms for 921 students. Completion is scheduled for 2025.

RIVM building

The construction of a new building for the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (Dutch acronym: RIVM), on Helsinkilaan, started in 2017 and is nearing its end. The RIVM staff should be able to move in by 2025.

The Living

Next to the car park on Padualaan on the Utrecht Science Park, a restaurant pavilion is under construction. This was due to open at the end of January, but has become 18 March. It is supposed to replace The Basket, which will close its doors on the 9th of March this year (source: Brothers Horeca Groep) due to the redesign of the Van Unnik buildings. The new pub, which will be called The Living, is a temporary affair that will only exist for five years. It is still unclear whether The Basket’s space will be used for the same purpose after that. Want to know more about The Living. Click here.

Van Unnik Building

The tallest UU building is right in the middle of Utrecht Science Park. That's the Van Unnik building, the former home of the geoscientists. It has been vacant for years, hidden behind green nets that are meant to prevent pieces of concrete from falling on passersby. The concrete is rotting. The low-rise part of the building was demolished a few years ago.

Behind the facade, one can hear the construction works going on. The building is gradually being dismantled and plans are being made to make the tallest building suitable for office and educational purposes again. The idea is for the University Administration and the Faculty of Social and Behavioral Sciences to move here. At the bottom of the building, there will be meeting rooms for students and staff. The Administration Building and the Martinus Langeveld Building will probably be disposed of and the Sjoerd Groenman Building, demolished. The "new" Van Unnik should become UU’s postcard at Utrecht Science Park, according to Real Estate & Campus. It is the first step in making the city centre greener and more lively. It will take a few years before it’s finished.

Transition Building

A much larger group of researchers from the Kruyt building will be working in the so-called Transition building for several years. To this end, the concrete skeleton of the former Earth Sciences building that stands next to the Koningsberger building is being “redeveloped”. The concrete skeleton will be used to build a new lab. The university is now looking for an operator also interested in renovating the building. One or more “commercial parties” are being considered. UU wants to rent the building for as long as the renovation of the Kruyt building lasts. After that, the labs will have to be rented out to companies in the field of sustainability or life sciences.

TNO building

TNO has surrendered square metres and removed its name from the wooden tower. UtrechtInc. and the Center for Entrepreneurship will settle into the vacant space. Utrecht Inc. is currently located in the Kruyt building and the Centre for Entrepreneurship on the International Campus. It is not yet entirely clear when their move will take place.

The Evolution garden in the Botanical Gardens

An evolution garden is being constructed in the Botanical Gardens. It is due to be completed in 2025. The evolution garden is a "Green Time Machine" spanning 450 million years. The evolution of plants is shown from single-celled algae to the current diversity of flowering plants.

Plus Ultra Utrecht

Next to the David de Wied building on the Universiteitsweg, the multi-tenant building Plus Ultra Utrecht is being built for start-up companies in life sciences. There will be laboratories and office spaces in its 23,000 square meters. Construction began in April 2023 and the expected completion date is mid-2025.

Cycle Path Bolognalaan

The cycle path on Bolognalaan has been broken up for months. The municipality is waiting for the weather to improve so it can resurface the cycle path.

In addition to the projects mentioned above, other projects are ongoing on the Utrecht Science Park and in the city centre. Read the full article.

Source: DUB