Old Earth Sciences building gets new owner

This was the first time Utrecht University issued a long lease contract for a plot that still has the skeleton of a building in it. The concrete structure was found to be still in good condition when the former Earth Sciences building was demolished. The university then decided to keep the building's skeleton so that it could be reused by the new owner, naming it Transition Building.

Kadans Science Partner will raise the concrete skeleton by two floors. The resulting building, which will be called The Bridge, will house offices and labs across 20,000 square metres. 

All spaces will be leased to Utrecht University for eight years. The university will use the space to accommodate research groups in Chemistry and Biology, including the Institute of Biodynamics and Biocomplexity, the Institute of Environmental Biology (IEB) and part of the Bijvoet Centre. These groups are currently housed in the Kruyt Building, which must be renovated. The researchers will return to the Kruyt Building after the renovation is done.

Meanwhile, many UU departments have already left the Kruyt building, such as Utrecht Inc. Last week, they held a "housewarming" party in their new home, Vening Meineszgebouw C. building, together with the Utrecht Centre for Entrepreneurship.

Kadans Science Partner already has three properties at Utrecht Science Park: the Accelerator and Genmab R&D on Uppsalalaan; and Plus Ultra, on Universiteitsweg, which is under construction.