We are proud to announce that our project for the reconversion of the Manchester Building in Aalst into the LIGO centre for adult basic education has been nominated by the Flemisch Architecture Institute VAI for the first Flemish Architecture Award 2026 in the category ‘Learning’. Accessibility lies at the heart of this edition — a guiding principle that shapes the project and spatially translates LIGO’s emancipatory ambition: a space where learning and connection converge. The award ceremony will take place on 7 June 2026 during the Day of Architecture.

https://www.vai.be/nieuws/shortlist-architectuur-prijs-vlaanderen-2026

Chris Eeraerts, Managing Director of Areal, was recently appointed as an expert member of the Urban Quality Committee of the City of Mechelen, for the coming four years. “As a resident of Mechelen, I am honoured to place my expertise at the service of the city in which I live. With great enthusiasm and commitment, I look forward to contributing—together with my fellow experts on the Urban Quality Committee—to the continued strengthening of Mechelen’s urban and architectural quality. I am keen to engage in a constructive dialogue with fellow experts Sven Grooten, Nicolas Raemaekers, Peggy Totté, Jonas Van de Walle and Luc Wallays. I would also like to thank Alderman for Spatial Planning Greet Geypen and the city’s building department for their trust.”

After a long development process since 2020, the social housing project of 185 homes enters a new phase. Construction starts in March 2026, beginning with the demolition of the existing buildings. Commissioned by Woonhaven Antwerp, we collaborate with Tom Thys Architects and Aad Landscape Architects on a clear, future-oriented housing project.

Areal is looking for new talent to join our team! We are seeking an architect intern and a project architect with at least two years of experience. Are you a creative and motivated designer who enjoys contributing to thoughtful architecture and taking responsibility within a growing studio? Send your CV and portfolio to info@arealarchitecten.be.
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Along the Blijde Inkomststraat, the student residence settles into the city’s fabric with a quiet Parisian poise. Between ramparts and centre, it claims a confident yet gentle presence. As students arrived, Pieter Rabijns captured its layered calm, revealing a renewed urban resonance in a street rediscovering its own rhythm today.

Construction of BS TERRA has begun. Commissioned by GO!, Areal Architecten and VDS are creating an open learning environment within the Slachthuissite masterplan by Triple Living. Situated between Kalverpad and Kalverwei, the school becomes a public cornerstone where education, landscape, and community converge within a green urban context. Images: www.frame.cx

After a nine-month renovation, the adult education centre has reopened. The introduction of a void reveals the steel structure, bringing light and interaction into the building. Dennis De Smet captured this renewed spatial vitality in photographs that eloquently portray the project’s architectural clarity and human dynamism. Pictures: www.dennisdesmet.be

The conversion of Brouwerij De Ridder in Deurne, commissioned by Andante and Miss Miyagi, and developed in collaboration with Karuur and Collectief Noord, is well underway. The former brewery site is being transformed into a community hub and mental health centre, where heritage, care, and urban vitality converge.

Together with Urbain Architectencollectief and aAD landschapsarchitecten, in the end of 2024 we won Open Call 4602 for the redevelopment of VZW Ter Luchte in Ruddervoorde. Around intimate patios, a domestic and human-scaled care environment unfolds, integrating a local service centre and park garden where architecture, community, and landscape merge into a carefully orchestrated care setting. Images: www.frame.cx

Shortly before the provisional completion, Dennis De Smet captured this social housing project in photographs that reveal its architectural grounding. From the collective courtyard, a dialogue between scale and density unfolds — between ground-level dwellings and urban high-rise. The images express a renewed confidence, firmly embedded within the layered urban palimpsest. Pictures: www.dennisdesmet.be

Sogent awarded the public-private partnership to Alides and ION, with Areal Architecten and DENC-studio responsible for architecture and aAD landschapsarchitecten for landscape design. On the former Gantoise site, a sustainable urban neighbourhood emerges, comprising 150 dwellings and community-supporting facilities organised around a green neighbourhood park, the social and ecological heart of the development. Images: www.infunctievan.be

In 2022, we developed the competition design for the Zwartzusters site in Mechelen, commissioned by Van Roey Vastgoed in collaboration with 360 Architecten, HUB Architecten, and LAND. We envisioned a permeable care and living environment between canal, heritage, and city centre — a valuable collaboration that, though unbuilt, provided lasting insight. Icw VAN ROEY, 360, HUB and LAND. Images: www.jorisbourgeois.be