At the end of March 2023, BESIX has received the availability certificate for the new master building of the Antwerp Police Force located near the Antwerp ring road in the Berchem district. The building will be the new base camp for 2,200 police officers and will centralise all policy implementation and supporting agencies of the Antwerp Police. With the availability certificate having been issued, the construction phase of BESIX’s biggest PPP project in Belgium is officially completed. The maintenance period of 25 years has now started.
Not your average office building
The new master building of the Antwerp Police Force has a total surface of 78,000 m² and consists of two towers with ten above-ground floors that are connected by a central core of four floors. In addition, the building has four underground floors with a large parking and several logistics spaces.
The new building is not just a standard office building. In addition to a large number of offices, it also comprises several spaces that are specific to the police, such as interview and interrogation rooms, sports and training spaces and a detention zone. Here, the most modern safety technologies were implemented. Also, a large part of the building has an impressive glass façade that does not only offer plenty of daylight, but a spectacular view of the city of Antwerp as well. That way, a pleasant and flexible work environment is created for the 2,200 police officers that will soon move into their new workplace.
The location of the master building is well thought out. It is located on the former site of the Antwerp postal sorting centre right next to the Borsbeeksebrug, between the Singel and the Antwerp ring road. Because of this, the building is easily accessible, while still being centrally located.
Biggest public-private partnership for BESIX in Belgium
The PPP project was awarded by AG Vespa, the autonomous municipal company for real estate and urban projects in Antwerp, to the consortium Post X LPA in 2017. It concludes the design, built, financing and maintenance for 25 years. BESIX was the only EPC (Engineering, Procurement, Construction) contractor of the consortium.
After a full restructuring of all key contractual agreements, BESIX took over all of the shares from SPV in 2020, turning the project into the biggest PPP for BESIX in Belgium. With the availability certificate, the construction phase of this PPP has now come to an end and the maintenance period of 25 years has started.
The Post X LPA consortium consists of a multidisciplinary team with, in addition to BESIX as the contractor, among others, Stéphane Beel Architects and Jaspers-Eyers & Partners (architects), VK Engineering (technical design office), Stedec NV (engineering for stability) and Equans (maintenance).
“BESIX is extremely proud to hand over this stunning building to our clients AG Vespa and the Antwerp Police Force, who we thank for their trust in our company. We look forward to seeing the 2,200 police officers move in soon and want to thank our partners and subcontractors for the collaboration.” – Johan Bel, PPP Manager Europe Concessions & Assets at BESIX Group.
