On 21 March, BVI.EU launched its latest real estate project “Quantum Biospace” at an extensive press conference. That new 63,000 m² business park (or rather call it “business village”) in Wavre-North is specifically designed for biotech, deep-tech, pharmatech companies. BVI.EU submitted a building application for it this month.
>> Discover this project in depth
As the first corporate real estate developer in the whole of Belgium and driven by the momentum of Big Data, Machine Learning and High Performance Computing in the biopharmaceutical industry, BVI.EU decided to establish this brand new real estate hub. This way, BVI.EU aims to anchor Belgium’s positioning as a Biotech hub in Europe. By offering the right real estate solutions, BVI.EU thereby aims to help accelerate the emergence of new ways of discovering, developing and producing medicines.
The prestigious Quantum Biospace® project will include 25,500 m² of research and development facilities and 37,500 m² of production and marketing spaces, data centres, computing centres and other office space. In addition, 5,500 m² of common areas will also be provided, including a restaurant, a conference centre and a boutique hotel. The project is being developed in close cooperation with the city of Wavre.
More than 50% of the site will be used for green spaces and recreation. In this way, BVI.EU aims to create working conditions that significantly raise the quality of life at work and strengthen the attractiveness of companies in today’s “war for talent”. Thus, they create more opportunities for academic and industrial cooperation.
The real estate project will be located in an exceptional setting in the heart of Walloon Brabant, less than 30 km from Brussels, at the crossroads of the three regions of Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels and among greenery. he project will be part of the Wavre North industrial estate.
The neighbourhood already hosts major Belgian industrial players such as UCB and GSK, as well as a large number of biotechs active in drug research such as iTeos Therapeutics and Galapagos Therapeutics, ArgenX and Ablynx. In addition, you will also find the VIB and WelBio (the two national research institutes in biotechnology) and renowned academic centres such as UCLouvain, KULeuven, ULB and VUB. Finally, the project is also close to the Federal Agency for Medicines, the European Commission and EuroNext, the Brussels Stock Exchange.
“We are extremely proud of the development of Quantum Biospace, a project that will drive innovation and sustainability in the Belgian biopharmaceutical industry,” said Geoffroy Dumonceau, Chief Development Officer at BVI.EU. “Quantum Biospace exemplifies Belgium’s commitment to innovation in biotechnology and artificial intelligence (AI). This real estate solution offers researchers, entrepreneurs and industrial players new opportunities, while it will have a long-term positive impact on public health.”
“When the City of Wavre acquired this land reserve almost two decades ago, it was obviously not intended for traditional industrial development,” said Anne Masson, mayor of Wavre. “The intrinsic qualities of this land and its ideal location led us to draw up very strict and ambitious specifications. We had to select a buyer who had all the guarantees to carry out a resolutely innovative project while respecting the environment. Quantum Biospace has all these qualities and even goes beyond our requirements and expectations. We welcome this partnership, which lifts our city and its business park to new horizons.”
The buildings are designed to be as sustainable as possible. They will be powered by photovoltaic panels and green energy from geothermal heat to reduce the end-users’ carbon footprint. The installation of various devices will allow rainwater on site to be fully managed and reused where possible. The office and research spaces will also be BREEAM-EXCELLENT certified.
Gentle mobility is also strongly encouraged within the park, thanks to the construction of more than 2.3 km of new pedestrian-cycle paths and the provision of shared bicycles and e-bikes.
Belgium is a world leader in the biopharmaceutical sector. It is the 4th largest European country in research and development with more than €5 billion invested per year. The industry employs 42,000 people, including 6,000 researchers, and generates €20 billion in production and €55 billion in exports.
“Quantum Biospace is a 100% private initiative of BVI.EU. It will strengthen Belgium’s offering as a hub for biotech companies,” said Florence Bosco, Biotech Business Developer and Project Manager at BVI.EU. “The drug development process follows Eroom’s law, i.e. its cost and duration have only increased over the past 30 years. Today, there is concrete evidence that the use of artificial intelligence has the potential to significantly improve the performance of biopharmaceutical R&D. With this project, BVI.EU will help accelerate this necessary transformation.”
