January 2009
The London firm of Zaha Hadid Architects will design the future headquarters of Antwerp Port Authority. The choice of architect was made at the Port Authority board meeting on 13 January 2009.
The Port Authority aims to make its operations more efficient by centralising the administrative and technical services, which are now divided between the Port House and quay 63.
The new headquarters will also solve the pressing shortage of workspace in the present Port House on the Entrepot quay. Some 500 people will be able to move into the new building when it is completed in 2013.
In addition to offering better accommodation, the future Port House will contribute to further development and upgrading of the part of the city known as Het Eilandje.
The brief for the new building specified that it had to symbolise the Port of Antwerp as a world port and economic driver of Flanders and the Antwerp area. It also had to be built according to the principles of sustainability.
In selecting the architect it was decided to use the Open Call for Tender procedure of the Flemish Government Architect’s team. The procedure was launched in December 2007, and nearly 100 architectural firms responded.
A shortlist of five firms was chosen:
The jury/board of directors finally opted for the proposal by Zaha Hadid Architects for the following two main reasons:
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