Dethier, Machiels, B+, Skilpod, and AHA are in the running for an order of more than 1 billion.
Living in Flanders has selected 3 parties after a tender to build social housing for a whopping €1.040 billion over the next 4 years. One of the winners of the framework contract is the combination of Construction Company Dethier (Alken), Machiels Building Solutions (Genk), and B+ Architects (Genk). The Geel-based company Skilpod, founded by Limburg entrepreneurs Filip Timmermans and Jan Vrijs, is also on the shortlist to execute the massive order. Kurt Meers – Made in Limburg
As is known, there is an enormous shortage of social housing throughout the country. Flemish Minister of Housing, Matthias Diependaele, urgently wants to address this issue and has therefore allocated a budget of more than 1 billion euros. To expedite the process, modular housing construction has been chosen. Through a public tender, all providers of this construction method could compete for the contract. Ultimately, 3 parties were selected as winners. This means that all social housing companies can pit these 3 providers against each other in a mini-competition to realize their construction plans.
One of the 3 potential contractors is the purely Limburg-based construction team of Construction Company Dethier, Machiels Building Solutions, and B+ Architects. Their proposal, consisting of architectural design, budgeting, and estimation of construction speed, came out as the best submission. Kevin Dethier, managing director of Alken-based Construction Company Dethier, is extremely pleased with the contract award: “Naturally, we are very proud that our construction team secured the selection, and even more so with the highest score among all bidders. As a contractor, we have a lot of experience with social housing construction and frequently undertake projects for the Flemish government. For the modular aspect, essentially the standardization of building elements, we can rely on the expertise of our experienced partners Machiels Building Solutions (MBS) and B+ Architects. Together with our technical knowledge, this forms a team that complements each other perfectly.”
Logical Whole The design for this mega-contract is based on the MOSARD standards, conceived by architect Ruben Braeken of the winning architectural firm B+ Architects from Genk. “We always design from standardized timber frame elements that are fully prefabricated, using fixed dimensions. This creates a easily scalable whole where different typologies can be logically combined.”
And Daan Peeters, General Manager of MBS, is also content: “We are pleased that the contracting authority recognizes our timber frame construction concept as a quality and energy-efficient solution. Because we can provide everything in prefab, we achieve much faster construction times and there is much more design freedom. But the biggest advantage is still the sustainable nature, which is reflected throughout the entire design.”
Start Right Away In addition to the Ghent-based construction company CIT Blaton, another party with a strong Limburg presence has been selected. Modular housing builder Skilpod, led by entrepreneurs Filip Timmermans and Jan Vrijs, is also vying for the mega-order. The company from Geel, which according to the jury report scored well on speed, price, and quality, is collaborating with AHArchitects from Ham and the Antwerp-based B-architects for this assignment. Toon-Bert Panis, Business Development Manager at Skilpod, cannot wait for the first orders: “We are very pleased that Wonen In Vlaanderen is opting for modular construction. This allows us to quickly reduce waiting times for social housing, without compromising on quality. With this framework contract, Wonen in Vlaanderen is accelerating the pace for the Flemish Housing Companies. The 3 laureates have been thoroughly vetted in advance, allowing orders to be issued immediately and the planned budgets to be deployed quickly.”
