Start of construction of Veterinary Medicine Research and Education facility
Step towards a sustainable future for Veterinary Medicine and USP East

With the start of the construction of the Research and Education facility (R&E facility) Utrecht University makes an important step in the ambition for a sustainable and future-oriented campus. This new facility is a crucial part of the redevelopment for the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine and will be built next to De Tolakker, the farm of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine.
A campus of the future
The transformation of USP East symbolises the sustainable ambition of Utrecht University. With the construction of the R&E facility and the new faculty building for the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine later on, we can say goodbye to outdated, energy-intensive buildings such as the Androclus Building and Nieuw Gildestein. This step contributes to the realisation of a CO2-neutral campus and illustrates the university's leading role in socially responsible and circular construction.
Education, research and innovation
The new facility is designed as a place where education, research and practice enhance each other. It provides space for interdisciplinary research into animal health and well-being, with state-of-the-art sensor technology and flexible workspaces. The organisational integration with the farm De Tolakker makes practice-based education and research even more accessible. “We are grateful because De Tolakker will have a Research and Education facility where we, even better than now, can teach and research the effects of sustainable agriculture on animal health and well-being,” says Debbie Jaarsma, Dean of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine.
"This facility is more than a building," Vice President of the Executive Board Margot van der Starre emphasises. "It is a tangible example of how sustainability and innovation are integrated into everything we do, and it marks the setting of a new standard for campus development."

Sustainability in practice
The R&E facility will become the first new construction project in USP East to be connected to the new thermal storage (warmte-koudeopslag, WKO), with which energy efficiency is increased and the CO2 footprint is reduced. The new R&E facility forms an essential step in the sustainable transformation of USP East. This building creates space to dismantle the outdated Martinus de Bruin Building and to repurpose the construction materials freed up from it in the realisation of the new faculty building.
Margot van der Starre says: "With this development, we show how the university not only talks about sustainability but actively designs it as well. It is an invitation to students, staff and partners to build a future-proof world together."

Working on impact together
The start of the construction is a milestone in the broader transformation of USP East. The area will be developed into a lively, biodiverse and sustainable environment, where students, staff and visitors can learn, work and meet. This redevelopment underlines the unique role of Utrecht University in providing solutions to societal challenges in the field of sustainability, health and innovation.
The construction schedule is now being finalised. The expected start is later this first quarter of 2025 with completion in summer 2026.