Boerentoren sold to Katoen Natie: Antwerp icon becomes … (Antwerp)

KBC hopes to be able to conclude a definitive agreement before the end of this year, but the banking institution is now announcing all the news. The tower will be renovated, completely stripped down and converted into a kind of cult house. Katoen Natie has undertaken many cultural initiatives in the past, setting up exhibitions and acquiring its own large art collection.

In addition to the cultural function, there will be a mix of shops, restaurants, offices and residential. With its spaces for temporary and long-term exhibitions, depots, a restoration studio, sculpture garden, cinema room, auditorium, panorama rooms, bookshop, etc., the tower will have a place among the other major heritage and cultural institutions in the City. The remediation and thorough renovation will be done by project developer ION and will start in the spring of 2021.

Huts

Fernand Huts, CEO of the Katoen Natie group, explains why this project is so dear to him: “As a native of Antwerp, raised in the Seefhoek and educated at the Sint-Jan Berchmanscollege on the Meir, I have a strong connection with ‘t Stad and its icons. It gives me intense satisfaction to develop a company – Katoen Natie – that can give the Boerentoren a new dynamic with a cultural foundation. The project is a huge challenge. But this prompts me to use all my experience and talents, as well as those of my family and company. We want to write history here. ”

Details

The interpretation of the renovated tower is already reasonably well established in the: culture will become the beating heart of the tower, combined with a future-oriented range of shops on the ground floor and the first floor (along the Schoenmarkt, Meirbrug and Eiermarkt). Visitors will also be able to walk right through the building. There will also be a mix of food and relaxation areas, while apartments will be provided as usual in the narrow part of the tower (from the 11th to the 23rd floor).

As icing on the cake, there will be an observatory and panoramic room, spread over the top three floors (24th, 25th and 26th floor), which will form an integral part of the cultural activities and will be accessible to the public, as in the MAS. This way everyone can fully enjoy the exceptional 360 ° view. The KBC logo will remain visible on the tower and KBC will continue to welcome its customers in a bank branch on the ground floor in the future.

ph

—