Consortium selected to build new national stadium

A consortium of the Belgian Ghelamco construction company and the Dutch BAM have been selected to go forward in negotiations to build the new national football stadium on what is now Parking C of the Heizel complex.

The City of Brussels had received two other competing bids from consortia led by Besix and Denys. The choice was made on the basis of a number of criteria, mayor Yvan Mayeur said, including the ability to complete the project, the means to run the stadium, the details of the lease, financial and contractual guarantees and architectural quality.

To ensure that the design of the building (pictured) fits in well with the surrounding landscape, the city consulted an advisory committee and the council and residents of Grimbergen, the municipality that borders Brussels where the stadium will actually be located.

One of the two residents’ groups, the Verregatwijk committee, which represents people who live between the old Heizel stadium and the new one, spoke against the Ghelamco bid on grounds of increased traffic and noise. The other group, Comité Parking C, supported the bid, but reluctantly.

“We’d rather have no stadium at all, but if we have to choose between a stadium with a park and a stadium with parking, then we go for the former option,” said Philippe Fierens, chair of the group. The Ghelamco plan involves traffic from the Ring being directed into underground parking facilities, covered over by a park.

The winning bid was designed by architects Jaspers-Eyers, with offices in Leuven, Hasselt and Brussels, which is also responsible for the Belgian embassy in Tokyo, the Toison d’Or complex in Brussels and the landmark MG Tower in Ghent.

Ghelamco, based in Ypres, recently completed the construction of the new stadium for AA Gent, while BAM was in line for the contract to renovate the Kuip stadium in Rotterdam until plans were abandoned for reasons of cost. The final construction in this case, Mayeur stressed, could go to one of the other bidders if talks with BAM-Ghelamco fail to work out satisfactorily.

“The BAM-Ghelamco project was the best of the three in the areas of mobility, integration and environment,” commented Grimbergen mayor Marleen Mertens. “But now the real work begins: seeing that the project is realised in the way it was presented to us.”

Club Anderlecht will be resident in the new stadium when it is not being used for national and international football matches.