BASF Innovation Center Gent takes extra floor into use

The BASF Innovation Center Gent has had a permanent home in the Tech Lane Gent Science Park in Zwijnaarde since 2004. Both buildings* are characterized by their red brick and modern construction style. Since the end of 2020, an extra floor has been added to the main building in order to accommodate the majority of the employees who work in Zwijnaarde.

Fixed value

The Innovation Center Gent, which is part of BASF since 2018, employs around 350 people from 20 countries in Zwijnaarde and in Astene. In 2004, the company moved from the Jozef Plateaustraat in the heart of Ghent to the Tech Lane Park because it was bursting at the seams. After a few years of growth, the building was no longer large enough to accommodate all the employees in Zwijnaarde and some teams were relocated to the Bio-Accelerator, further down the park. A large part of the support services had their permanent home there for several years.

Together under 1 roof

The idea of building an extra floor on top of the main building had been on the table for a long time. Immediately after the takeover by BASF on August 1, 2018, effective work was done on this. After all, it is an absolute added value to bring the R&D departments and support services back together in Zwijnaarde. In May 2019, the works were started in order to be able to put the extra floor into use in the autumn of 2020. Despite some corona-related obstacles, this timing was met. Around 120 employees were able to unpack their belongings at their brand-new workplace in early November 2020.

Eye for sustainability

The extra floor consists exclusively of office space, almost 1,600 m² to be precise. During construction, attention was paid to sustainability. The sun blinds and LED lighting work with sensors, there is energy-efficient temperature control, a heat pump is used, and the carpet tiles are CO2 neutral.

* The site in Zwijnaarde consists of two buildings: main building with office space and 4,000 m² of laboratory space, greenhouse building next door with 4,000 m² of greenhouse and breeding facilities.