The Rega and the Nursing and Midwifery departments at the Catholic University Leuven had a great need for a new education building. An architectural competition was launched, and won by the VK design team, where VK was subsequently responsible for custom engineering work. The jury was won over by the integration of technology into the overall concept and the sustainable approach.

For example, classrooms and offices are cooled passively with natural ventilation, and night cooling. Free cooling based on displacement ventilation is applied in the auditoria. Nearly the whole year the auditoria are cooled with outside air. The laboratories are air conditioned by a variable air volume (VAV). In the fume hoods, where chemicals are used, the exhaust is demand driven. The flow rate is adjusted to the number of working hoods.

The laboratories constituted an important part of this project. Each lab was provided with specific technology depending on its type. For example, labs where chemicals are handled have extraction plenums, fume hoods, and fume cupboard. In addition, each lab table and fume cupboard equipped with natural gas, a compressed air system, and compressed air. Emergency showers are also integrated in these labs. For laboratories that emphasize biotechnology, a containment level (L2) needs to be taken into account. In a final lab type, students learn to cook and to care for patients. There, cookers and hobs are provided. Mock hospital rooms have bed beams with all the equipment on them.