09. Juli 2012 
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Construction of new Port House to start in September
Construction work on the Port Authority's new headquarters, built to a design by Zaha Hadid Architects, will start in mid-September. The Port Authority has now selected the contractors who will do the building work. The choice has fallen on Interbuild NV for the general contracting, Victor Buyck Steel Construction NV for the steel structure of the new building, and Groven+ NV for the outer wall. Altogether the new Port House will cost €49.9 million and the work will take 33 calendar months. Some 500 Port Authority employees will move into the new headquarters in the autumn of 2015.
The selection of the contractors is the result of an intensive negotiating procedure that took ten months to complete. The Port Authority board of directors gave its approval to the results of the full procedure for the appointment of the contractors. However, under the terms of the award procedure there has to be a «stand still» period of at least 15 calendar days, so that the various contracts cannot actually be awarded until the beginning of August at the earliest. This means that work on construction of the new Port House can start in mid-September. In the meantime the environmental and construction permits for the project have already been granted by the Flemish government.
„The new Port House will undoubtedly form a worthy setting in which to receive visitors, who will moreover be able to admire the outstanding view of the city and its port,“ declared Marc Van Peel. The new headquarters for the Port Authority comes in response to the pressing lack of space in the present Port House on the Entrepot quay, in the Eilandje district. By centralising the Port Authority departments on quay 63 it will also permit more efficient operation. The new building will be able to accommodate some 500 members of personnel.
The selection of the contractors is the result of an intensive negotiating procedure that took ten months to complete. The Port Authority board of directors gave its approval to the results of the full procedure for the appointment of the contractors. However, under the terms of the award procedure there has to be a «stand still» period of at least 15 calendar days, so that the various contracts cannot actually be awarded until the beginning of August at the earliest. This means that work on construction of the new Port House can start in mid-September. In the meantime the environmental and construction permits for the project have already been granted by the Flemish government.
„The new Port House will undoubtedly form a worthy setting in which to receive visitors, who will moreover be able to admire the outstanding view of the city and its port,“ declared Marc Van Peel. The new headquarters for the Port Authority comes in response to the pressing lack of space in the present Port House on the Entrepot quay, in the Eilandje district. By centralising the Port Authority departments on quay 63 it will also permit more efficient operation. The new building will be able to accommodate some 500 members of personnel.
