On January 19, the University of Navarra will begin construction of the Bioma Center, a building that will serve as a multidisciplinary space dedicated to undergraduate teaching, research—especially that carried out by the BIOMA Institute of Biodiversity and Environment—and the communication and dissemination of science through the University of Navarra Science Museum. It will also house facilities such as the Innovation Factory Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. 

The Pamplona City Council has granted a license for the construction of the building, designed by architect Patxi Mangado, which will be located opposite the Cima and Acunsa buildings. It will be accessed from a 7,000-square-meter pedestrian plaza. The project is intended to serve as a link between the Science Campus and the Social Sciences and Humanities Campus and the University of Navarra Museum. It also aims to be a viewpoint overlooking the campus and a landmark for entry and connection with the city. 

The Bioma Center will house the Institute of Biodiversity and Environment, where, together with companies and public institutions, we will address the major challenges facing our society today. The building is full of academic life, with research spaces, classrooms for our students, and a bold exhibition proposal from the Science Museum, which will also be a great agora, a meeting place for citizens. All this has been possible thanks to the collaboration of many institutions, individuals, foundations, and companies that are accompanying us on this adventure, an adventure in the service of society," explained the rector, María Iraburu.

The building has a surface area of 20,000 square meters distributed over five floors (two basements, ground floor, first floor, and second floor). Construcciones VDR is the company awarded the construction contract, with a budget of €45 million. Work is expected to begin next week and be completed within 28-30 months. 

New spaces for teaching and research

Teaching, research, and exhibition space are distributed across virtually every floor of the building: 3,549 square meters are devoted to teaching; 3,452 square meters to research; and 4,439 square meters to the Science Museum. The remaining space is occupied by the restaurant area, with a surface area of 834 m², facilities, and general services. 

One of the objectives of this project is to expand the spaces available for teaching and research activities carried out in the faculties of Science, Pharmacy and Nutrition, Nursing, and Medicine, which currently have a total of 3,361 undergraduate students (37.77% of the University's total student body), 202 master's students, 340 doctoral students, and 649 professionals, including professors, researchers, and administrative and service staff.  

There will be 14 classrooms with a capacity of between 50 and 180 people and six teaching laboratories, plus seven seminar rooms for seven to ten people. Six degrees and two double degrees are planned for the faculties of Science and Pharmacy and Nutrition. Offices for the Dean of the Faculty of Science, meeting rooms, and work areas have also been designed. 

In terms of research activity, the building will house the BIOMA Institute of Biodiversity and Environment, which comprises more than 108 people, including researchers from different faculties and centers, professors, and administrative and service staff. The mission of the Institute of Biodiversity and Environment is to conduct leading research in its field, promoting innovation and collaboration between professionals from different disciplines and fostering collaboration between the University, businesses, and public administration to find solutions to common challenges in the field of sustainability. It currently has 28 research projects (5 European, 13 national, and 10 regional), 5 contracts (3 national and 2 regional), and 3 chairs (2 national and 1 regional), with funding of €10,385,488 granted as of December 10, 2025.  

The new space will have 12 research laboratories, 4 seminar rooms, and other facilities for research activities, such as freezers, growth chambers, greenhouses, sample preparation areas, etc. Several offices and meeting rooms are also planned. 

Spaces for innovation and science outreach

There are two areas that particularly stand out in the building's design: the agora or atrium, a type of public square that will divide up the interior spaces, and the geode or "gem, " which will house the Science Museum's exhibition area on different floors. 

The teaching spaces, laboratories, and research facilities are organized around the agora, which also houses the University's Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center, Innovation Factory, and a meeting point for students. In addition to these uses, the building will have a chapel located on the ground floor. 

From the agora, you can see the current access road to the Social Sciences and Humanities area, which passes by the Virgen del Amor Hermoso chapel, which can also be seen from inside the new building. 

As highlighted in the report, the most unique space in the project is the piece that, like a "gem" excavated from the landscape, a geode, contains the most important exhibits of the Science Museum. Since 1998, it has exhibited, among other things, the collection of the Lekaroz school in the Hexagon and has more than one million museum records of animals (invertebrates, arthropods, mollusks, fish, birds, reptiles, mammals, etc.), plants, fossils, and minerals, belonging to more than ten thousand species. 

The museum organizes outreach activities such as #LabMeCrazy! Science Film Festival, camps for children, science education sessions, exhibitions, and talks. In total, more than 11,000 people participated in its initiatives during the last academic year. 

The geode is completed with an auditorium with capacity for 129 people; a shop, museum offices, educational areas and workshops mainly aimed at schoolchildren, as well as storage spaces, workshops and a restaurant area. 

The variety of activities and users in a building has posed a challenge from an architectural point of view. "The goal was to provide different answers that seemed like one. Spatially, there is a very powerful part that is the architectural gem, but then there are also other spaces as befits an academic and research building," said architect Patxi Mangado. The Bioma center will host individual work and teaching for groups of students. "A professor has to do research in his office, and at the same time, it has to be possible for schoolchildren to come and see the exhibitions... Let's say that from an analytical point of view, there are three buildings, and from an architectural synthesis point of view, there is one," he said. 

Energy efficiency and exterior

The building is expected to contribute to the environment by producing energy in a sustainable manner and having nearly zero energy consumption(NZEB), seeking to harmonize the use of natural resources and contribute to the sustainability of the planet. 

The planned strategy is based on the construction of a highly efficient thermal envelope that limits the building's energy needs and the use of renewable energies such as solar (photovoltaic panels) and air energy through high-efficiency aerothermal equipment. 
The building's general lighting will be designed using LED technology and a control system with presence detectors and natural light intensity sensors in the different spaces, where savings compared to ordinary consumption are estimated at 50%.

The Bioma Center seeks maximum integration with the campus and its surroundings. For this reason, facades composed of green slate slabs are planned , combined with wood, glass, and aluminum. 

Fundraising and donations

The Bioma Center project is being financed thanks to donations made to the University of Navarra by companies, institutions, and individuals. To date, donations have reached 25.9 million (19.5 million signed and 6.4 million committed).

Among the companies that have contributed to this funding are: the Spanish Government, the Government of Navarre, Atlantic Copper, AWWG, Koral, Balearia, Campus Home, Corporación Hijos de Rivera, Cosentino, Elecnor, Endesa, Fundación "la Caixa," Fundación Ramón Areces, Fundación Loro Parque, Grupo Logístico Sesé, Grupo Reifs, Grupo Ubesol, Laboral Kutxa, Laboratorios RNB, Mascato, Molins, Telefónica, and Torreal. 

In addition, the following organizations support and collaborate with the activities of the University of Navarra Science Museum: ACUNSA Health Insurance, FECYT Innovation, Caja Navarra Foundation, LILLY Foundation, SACYR Foundation, and Laboral Kutxa. 

And they support the research of the Institute of Biodiversity and Environment: Sanitas Foundation and Campus Home.