Construction started on Flanders’ first “School of Tomorrow”

The two new buildings will house modern classes, adapted rooms for specific courses, labs, a new refectory and a sports hall for the school’s 700 students. The new accommodations should be ready by the start of the 2015 school year.

Schools of Tomorrow is a consortium made up of the government of Flanders, BNP Paribas Fortis and AG Real Estate. The private partners finance the design, construction and maintenance of the schools for 30 years, during which time the schools pay the partners a usage fee. After 30 years, ownership of the buildings transfers to the schools.

Dirk Vanstappen, head of infrastructure at the Catholic education network, has complained about unexpected costs for schools, while Filip Smets of the Education Secretary for Cities and Municipalities declared that the project doesn’t include specific needs of schools. Architects, like Luc Vanmuysen of bureau a2o, also mentioned that the needs of students have not sufficiently been taken into account.

Daniël Geerts, general manager of Schools of Tomorrow, admitted that they are working inside a strict framework of budget and timing, but that schools can propose certain adjustments. He also felt the extra costs for schools will be minimal.

Minister Smet stated that the project was very large and complex, while it may be better to work with smaller clusters. Future projects would be more transparent and closer to the end-user, he said.

Photo by Frank Toussaint