WHO WE ARE
BEL was established in 2006 by engineer-architects Jeroen Beerten (°1975) and Tom Louwette (°1974). The firm is based in Brussels, Belgium. The agency is especially interested in missions at the intersection of architecture, infrastructure and landscape design. Meanwhile BEL has been in existence for 20 years and has worked on more than 75 projects.

KEY PROJECTS
Key projects so far were the designs for a watertower in Beersel, the youth cultural centre “Het Bos” in Antwerp, the municipal sports centre of Genk, the blue house in Kontich, the Ostend Olympic swimming pool, the laboratory for concrete testing in Diepenbeek, the waste-to-energy plant of Antwerp, the firestation of Leopoldsburg, the design for the Zenne River Park of Halle and the Brussels sportstower, which is currently under development.

TYPOLOGICAL INNOVATION
Each building by BEL is the result of a thorough search for what the “ideal building” for a given programme might be. This involves searching for the right balance between rationality and frivolity. This leads to typologically innovative buildings with highly functional and clear plans in which the maximum experience and pleasure of the users are central. When drawing up the plan, the most optimal and economical structure is examined and how it shapes the desired spatiality. Inherent qualities such as daylight, acoustics, flexibility, energy consumption, sustainability … are consistently integrated. This results in exciting and challenging buildings in which the architecture exudes great formal power: honest buildings without fuss.

BEL’S PHILOSOPHY
BEL likes the broad view! Each job is an investigation for us. Each project is a form of research for we never really know in advance what the end result will be. Each project is an answer to a question, but it might not be the expected answer. So in that sense what BEL does might be called lab research, laboratory research. BEL’s various designs for the open calls of the Flemish Government Architect or the Brussels’ Bouwmeester Maitre Architecte show this approach all the time and they do so with vision and great gusto for innovation!

AWARDS
2021 BRUSSELS ARCHITECTURE PRIZE, MENTION IN THE EXTRA MUROS CATEGORY
Municipal sports centre, Genk (BE)
2016 NOMINATIE STAALBOUWWEDSTRIJD CATEGORIE A ‘NIET-RESIDENTIËLE GEBOUWEN’
Municipal sports centre, Genk (BE)
2014 PRIJS WIVINA DEMEESTER VOOR EXCELLENT BOUWHEERSCHAP
Youth culture centre “Het Bos”, Antwerpen (BE)