Construction and renovation

The Port House, headquarters of the Antwerp Port Authority, symbolizes the dynamic, ambitious and innovative character of the port of Antwerp, and is the daily workplace for 500 employees. It also functions as a meeting place for the many international contacts of the Antwerp port community. In 2012, architect Zaha Hadid gave the starting signal for the construction of the headquarters.

The project consists of the renovation of the existing fire station, upon which an impressive new building of 1,500 tons was constructed. The frame of the new building arrived by boat in 6 large prefabricated pieces. The new building facades, attached to this frame, are made of glass triangles which rotate slightly and give a continuous change in reflection. The Port House has an above-ground surface of 15,500m² and an underground surface of 11,750m². The entire Port House – with its striking and highly contemporary glass structure – is an example of a port of the 21st century: a port that is ready for the future.

Cegelec started in 2013 with the HVAC installation of this challenging project. In the renovation part many techniques were still visible and in the new part all the techniques needed to be in the steel structure. The installation included: 16 air handling units, 1,700 m² floor heating, 121 swirls, 145 chilled beams, 264 radiators, 3 boilers of 710 kW, a heat pump with beo field of 300 kW, a chiller of 1,335 kW, …