Last Friday, 22 September 2023, the new headquarters of the Antwerp Police Force located near the Antwerp ring road in the Berchem district was officially inaugurated in the presence of the Major of Antwerp Bart De Wever. The building centralises all policy implementation and supporting agencies of the Antwerp Police, which have been spread across different locations in the city up until now.
The project is BESIX’s largest public-private partnership (PPP) in Belgium. At the end of last year, the availability certificate was issued, marking the end of the construction phase. Meanwhile, a maintenance period of 25 years has started.
Not your average office building
The building 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, which is adapted to the height of specific service vehicles, and several logistics spaces.
The new building is a technological feat, offering all functionalities to guarantee an efficient service. In addition to a large number of offices, it 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 its users.
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, build, 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 in 2020, turning the project into the biggest PPP for BESIX in Belgium.
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).
This project demonstrates the ability of BESIX to support public authorities from A to Z in the realisation of their vision. The DBFM formula, as well as the extensive expertise and experience present in BESIX, enabled the company to already take on a steering role in the design phase. That way, an optimalised solution was found that entirely answers to the client’s wishes.
LEAN methodology for maximum continuity on site
The biggest challenge of the project was undoubtedly to make sure that all subcontractors adhered to the strict planning. Moreover, the site’s urban environment lead to limited storage space on-site, because of which the delivery of materials required a just-in-time management approach. Good coordination was thus key. To navigate this coordination, the site team implemented the LEAN methodology. This approach focuses on collaboration and communication, and strongly engages all parties involved in the works. All project and site managers gathered once a week to discuss the planning and to identify, and avoid, possible clashes. This optimalised the progress of the works and guaranteed maximum continuity on site.
Centralisation
After the built of their new headquarters was finished at the end of last year, the Antwerp Police Force gradually started moving in as from May. This summer, already 1,000 police officers were working at their new workplace. By the end of October, all officers will have moved. In total, more than 2,200 employees will be working in the new building.
Moving into their new office is an important step for the Antwerp Police Force, as the building centralises all policy implementation and supporting agencies of the Antwerp Police.
“BESIX is happy to see that the Antwerp police officers are moving into this stunning building. With the inauguration, another important milestone was reached for the project. As you know, the project was set up before the pandemic, the rise in interest rates and the war in Ukraine. As a result, the economic balance of the project was disrupted. Despite this, the project has been successfully delivered. We want to wish our clients AG Vespa and Police Force Antwerp all the best in this beautiful building. Also, we want to thank our partners and subcontractors for the collaboration.” – Johan Bel, PPP Manager Europe Concessions & Assets at BESIX Group.
