(Sun 10.09) Visit our office during the Dag van de architectuur
Block your agenda! On Sunday 10 September we will swing open our doors and welcome you to have a look behind the scenes of our Antwerp headquarters. With this open day, we are once again taking part in the Dag van de architectuur, the last day of VAi's biannual architecture festival.
There is free admission between 11 and 16h. You can meet the B-family, discover our projects with a word of explanation, follow a tour around our workplaces or just stroll around in our cosy, sunlit courtyard garden. In short: no reasons not to come.
In addition to this all-day program, we organise a series of readings on our working method and a selection of our current projects.
11h: B is
Sven Grooten, B co-founder, gives a glimpse behind the scenes of our office.
12h: St Godelieve abbey (B-architecten & B-juxta)
Earlier this year, B-architecten and B-juxta, two of our B divisions, were jointly appointed by Toerisme Vlaanderen to draw up a master plan for the overall restoration and redevelopment of the St Godelieve abbey in Bruges. We will also carry out its first phase. In this project, we combine our expertise in both large-scale architectural commissions and restoration, an approach that was clearly able to convince the jury. Alexandra Hoet of B-architecten and Mathias Vandepitte of B-juxta explain our future perspectives on the project.
13h: PSLab (B-bis)
The originally Lebanese company PSLab is a renowned name in the lighting industry. They chose a historic warehouse as their Antwerp base, which was renovated by B-bis architecten. The project is among the five finalists of this year's Erfgoedjuweel, Antwerp's monument award.
The collaboration for the Antwerp PSLab office proved to be fruitful for both parties and sparked new B-bis projects for PSLab studios in several European capitals. Text and explanation by Sebastiaan Leroy, head of B-bis.
14h: Quartiers hospitaliers Charleroi (B-city)
Currently, a new hospital of no less than 145,000 m² is being built in Charleroi, to be completed in 2024. Once finished, a number of sites where hospitals are operational today will therefore be vacant for redevelopment.
The first two eligible sites are Saint-Joseph (almost 5 ha) and Reine Fabiola (3 ha), located in the boroughs of Gilly and Montignies-sur Sambre. B-city was appointed to design the master plans for two of these sites. Text and explanation by Raquel Santos of B-city.
15h: Pier Blankenberge (B-juxta)
Since April this year, the 259-metre walkway of the only pier on our Belgian coast has been accessible again. Two years of hard work went into restoring this unique Interbellum monument, which had been struggling with concrete rot for years. Bearing Jules Soete's original design in mind, we reconstructed the structure with contemporary materials and techniques. Around this time, the work will be finalised, which is a lot faster than the expected end of the works in the course of 2025. Text and explanation by Sylvie Lamsens and Jotte Verrept, who jointly monitored the project.
All readings will be held in Dutch, except at 14h (B-city). This one will be given in English.
Sign up for the readings here (bottom of the page).
During the Dag van de architectuur, which this year coincides with Open Monumentendag, you can discover several other B-projects all over Flanders and Brussels: Station of Laken in Brussels, GO! talent, the Blaisant church in Ghent and PSLab's office at the Antwerp South.
The latter is one of the five finalists of the Erfgoedjuweel, the Antwerp Monument Prize. Vote for PSLab and send it straight into receiving the crown jewel!
In a nutshell.
Sunday 10 September
Free admission between 11-16h,
Registration for the readings is mandatory. (sign up at the bottom of this page)
Our headquarters are located behind the Antwerp Central Station
Borgerhoutsestraat 22/01
2018 Antwerp