Owing to the vision of the development of Rijeka as a city of young people and knowledge, in 2003 the mayor of Rijeka Vojko Obersnel managed to negotiate with the state that the buildings owned by the Ministry of Defence on Trsat, after the army has left them, be assigned to the disposal of the City of Rijeka with a view of constructing the University Campus in this location.
Immediately after taking over the former barracks on Trsat from the Ministry of Defence, the City of Rijeka assigned this area, which covers an area of 355,734 sq.m., free of charge to the University of Rijeka for the construction of the Campus and to the Clinical Hospital Centre for the construction of a new hospital.
First of all, for the needs of the Academy of Applied Arts, the largest building that hosted barracks was refurbished and opened in October 2006. The building that hosts the Science and Technology Park was completed in 2009, the building that hosts the Faculty of Philosophy and Teacher Training at the beginning of 2011, the building of the student restaurant in April 2011, the building that hosts the University Departments at the end of 2011 and the building of the Faculty of Civil Engineering in 2012.
Academy of Applied Arts
The large building that hosted the former military barracks, built in 1928, was refurbished in 2006 according to the project prepared by architect Željko Vukušić. The AAA workshops are located in the basement of the building. The Psychology Department of the Faculty of Philosophy, the Student Advisory Centre, the Office for Students with Special Needs and the Centre for Art Topography, founded by the Institute of Art History from Zagreb and the University of Rijeka, are temporarily situated on the second floor of the building.
Faculty of Philosophy and Faculty of Teacher Training
The building was designed as a common structure for three users, who have separate entrances and form separate entities, namely: the Faculty of Philosophy, the Faculty of Teacher Training and the Student Advisory Centre. An underground garage with 200 parking spaces was designed as part of the building. The building was completed in early 2011.
University departments
The building that hosts the University departments was designed by professor Dario Gabrić from the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Architecture, University of Split. The building was completed in October 2011 and it hosts the Department of Physics, the Department of Mathematics, the Department of Computer Science (Today Faculty of Informatics and Digital Technologies). and the Department of Biotechnology. In addition to the University departments, the building also hosts the Centre for Micro and Nano Sciences and Technology, the Centre for Advanced Computer Science and Modelling and the Centre for Learning and Teaching Support.
Faculty of Civil engineering
The works were initiated in April 2008 and the building was completed in November 2011. This building will also host the University Centre for Studies. The building has an underground garage with 200 parking spaces.
The building that hosts the student restaurant
The works were initiated in October 2007. The building that hosts the student restaurant includes the dining room (restaurant), the central kitchen with a capacity of 4,500 meals, the pastry shop and cafeteria. Inside the building there are also spaces for social activities of the academic community. An underground garage with 100 parking spaces was built inside the building. The building was completed in April 2011.
Student dormitories
The works were initiated at the beginning of 2015, and were completed in 2017 for the construction of three student pavilions with a total of 754 beds, which construction, worth HRK 150 million, was financed under the EU structural funds.
Science and Technology Park (STeP)
The Science and Technology Park is located in the refurbished building that once hosted the military barracks. The refurbishment was completed at the end of March 2009. The Science and Technology Park of the University of Rijeka was opened in order to serve as a linkage between scientific research in university laboratories and research centres and entrepreneurship in the region and beyond. Its task is to encourage entrepreneurship based on knowledge, innovation and new technologies. The STeP park is located in the centre of the University Campus and will provide tenants with the following services: intellectual property protection, marketing, business consulting, networking of scientists and entrepreneurs.
Infrastructure and other facilities
The landscaping project included the area of the University Campus Square and other green areas, the main pedestrian street with access to parking lots next to the student dormitories and a pedestrian corridor with stairs. The landscape project with the belonging infrastructure was created by a project team of the Building Institute of Croatia, Rijeka Branch. The City of Rijeka provided huge support during the construction of Campus infrastructure and landscaping.
The power station with the gas reduction and metering station was conceived as a common energy block of the University Campus and the CHC Rijeka. During the design of the heating system, the need for a gradual construction of the Campus and the CHC was taken into consideration.
The two city streets are also of exceptional importance, the four-lane University Avenue (in the western part of the Campus, perpendicular to Slavko Krautzek Street) and the extension of Vjekoslav Dukić Street behind the current CHC.