The Flemish Government has appointed the Belgian architectural firm Bovenbouw and the Swiss firm Christ & Gantenbein as the design team for the new building project for the Museum of Contemporary Art Antwerp (M HKA). Their design presents a new museum that will form an iconic landmark in Antwerp’s cityscape.

The Flemish Government has allocated a total project budget of 130 million euros for the new building. The appointment of Bovenbouw and Christ & Gantenbein follows a competitive tender process in which the quality of the concept, vision and sustainability were key criteria. The new building, which will be located on the site of the current Court of Appeal on Waalsekaai, is set to become a major cultural catalyst for Flanders and will further raise the museum’s international profile.

“The new museum must become an open house, where a variety of activities breathe life into the museum every week. A welcoming space where you can walk in just as you would into the Turbine Hall at Tate or the forum at the Centre Pompidou. This is how this museum will be remembered: as a shared space, a meeting place for a diversity of people, communities and artistic worlds. Moreover, this new ‘landmark’ in the city will not only help realise the international ambitions of our Flemish contemporary visual arts policy, but is also intended to strengthen collaboration with other Flemish heritage institutions,” according to Caroline Gennez, Flemish Minister of Culture

In June 2023, the Flemish Community published the public contract for the appointment of a design team. The Facilities Agency oversaw the procedure in collaboration with the Flemish Chief Architect. A total of 54 design teams applied, from which the client, on the advice of a selection committee comprising experts, selected six candidate designers:

Bovenbouw Architectuur (B) Christ & Gantenbein (CH)

DRDH Architects BV Jamie Fobert Architects (UK)

noAarchitecten EM2N Architekten AG (CH) Sergison Bates Architects (UK)

OFFICE Kersten Geers David Van Severen (B) SO–IL Office (USA)

Robbrecht en Daem architecten Dierendonckblancke architecten Laura Muyldermans
Studio Nauta Bedaux VOF (NL) Feilden Fowles Architects Limited (UK)

The candidates’ designs were assessed by a selection committee on the basis of their architectural language, urban integration, museum quality, sustainability and financial feasibility. With the design by Bovenbouw and Christ & Gantenbein, the Flemish Government has opted for a museum building that will serve as an iconic landmark. It is intended to strengthen the existing museum cluster in the area and act as a catalyst for the cultural identity of the surrounding neighbourhood.

“I am delighted that Flanders is demonstrating this level of ambition. Within a few years, the Flemish Community’s international collection of contemporary art will finally be on display in a facility on a par with those in other European countries. The artists and the art in Flanders deserve that,” adds Bart De Baere, director of M HKA.