New international university hub for Brussels in 2025

A disused police barracks in Ixelles will be turned into a new international university hub by 2025, in a partnership between the Free Universities of Brussels: French-speaking ULB and Dutch-speaking VUB.

An international architectural competition to redesign the former Royal School of the Gendarmerie, on the corner of Boulevard Général Jacques and Avenue de la Couronne, has been launched by Brussels minister-president Rudi Vervoort this week alongside federal interior and foreign ministers Jan Jambon and Didier Reynders.

The Brussels-Capital region will buy the 3.85 hectare site, via building agency Beliris, from the federal police force in January for €30 million, plus an additional €5 million cost for asbestos removal.

VUB and ULB are expected to benefit from €11 million of European Union funding for the project, called Usquare, which will include a new reception house for international students, a museum space, interdisciplinary research centre, food hall, 300-seater cinema and a large public esplanade. There will be housing for 600 students and 200 families, plus a start-up incubator for innovative new companies.