Antwerpen - Tropical Institute

The Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM) wants to have a development vision drawn up for the site in the centre of Antwerp with a view to bringing together and strengthening its scientific, medical and teaching activities. In addition, this assignment includes the renovation of the art-deco buildings. The construction of new laboratories is also planned, but the design assignment for this part is still conditional. The ITM has earmarked between €60,000,000 to €65,000,000 (excl. VAT and fees) for this assignment.

The Institute of Tropical Medicine (ITM) is committed to continuous progress in the fields of science and health, with a focus on innovative research, progressive teaching, professional medical and scientific services, and the sharing of capacities with our partner institutions in Africa, Asia and Latin America. For the ITM, scientific excellence and social relevance go hand in hand. 

Located in the historic centre of Antwerp, the ITM is situated on the north-south route between Groenplaats and the redeveloped museum square on the one hand, and on the east-west route between the Scheldt quays, Waalsekaai and Vlaamsekaai and Mechelseplein on the other. The ITM has operated in an art deco building since 1933. The campus consists of the main building (Nationalestraat side) and the polyclinic, laboratories and support services (Kronenburgstraat side). The cluster of buildings was supplemented in the 1980s by a laboratory building, for which the historic garden on Sint-Rochusstraat had to make way. In 2001 the seventeenth-century monastery (campus Rochus, Department of Public Health and Education) in Sint-Rochusstraat was added to the building heritage. All core activities of the ITM (research, patient care, teaching) take place on the campus.

Under the motto ‘one health one global campus’, the ITM aims to bring together and strengthen the scientific, medical and teaching activities. The unified campus should be meaningful both in cultural and functional terms and must be sustainable for future generations while also adding value to Antwerp’s urban development. 

The preparation of a development vision for the entire site of the Institute of Tropical Medicine (fixed part A):

To reinforce the quality of the project and the opportunities for embedding it in the urban context, the ITM has chosen to have the all-inclusive study assignment for renovation, redevelopment and extension preceded by the preparation of a final development vision. During this phase, the focus is on translating the programme for the art-deco buildings, the monastery and the adjacent Provincial Institute for Hygiene (PIH) building into a robust sector  plan showing how the ambitions can be realized and how the requested programmes relate to each other. A 3D representation will provide insight into the materialization and the desired relationship with the urban context.

The study also concerns how the ITM can go public with the site and its operations. The ITM’s ambition is to open up its heritage, make the gardens accessible and communicate about its activities. The ITM aims to become an inspiring (semi-)public place embedded in the current developments of the site, the surrounding public space and the larger urban district. The designers will also make clear statements about the depaving and greening of the site (the listed gardens, the monastery gardens, etc.).

The ITM wants to fully commit to advanced technical solutions that contribute to energy efficiency, sustainability and ease of use. Moreover, the ITM expects a sensitive integration into the heritage context. The development vision should be linked to an innovative energy strategy for the entire campus.

The all-inclusive study assignment for the renovation of the art-deco buildings and the layout of the surroundings (fixed part B):

The historical art-deco buildings on campus, which make up an important architectural heritage, are to be renovated. A distinction will here be made between those places where the interior contains valuable heritage elements and those places where these elements, following numerous renovations, have disappeared. The heritage elements are listed in the management plan and must be restored (if this has not already been done). The client wishes to have an ambitious interior design drawn up in relation to the (existing and disappeared) typical (interior) heritage elements and the activities of the ITM (division between public, semi-public and private). The buildings will also be adapted to contemporary requirements in terms of user comfort, energy efficiency and circularity.

The current laboratories from the 1980s no longer meet modern requirements and will be demolished. The spaces freed up on Sint-Rochusstraat can be used as green meeting spaces for users, visitors and passers-by.

The all-inclusive study assignment for the new construction of innovative lab buildings in the adjacent PIH building (conditional part)

A crucial part of the development vision is the expansion into the adjacent building of the Provincial Institute of Hygiene (PIH). This building provides an opportunity to house the new, state-of-the-art laboratory facilities on the same site. The high-performance lab functions will be provided for in a new plinth building, on top of the existing car park. In the tower section, a (still to be defined) programme will be provided by an external partner.

Regarding the application, the client is mainly looking for a high-quality designer who, on the basis of design research, can spatially translate all the above ambitions. Experts such as a heritage expert, a sustainability expert, a lab building expert (BSL-3 level) and other experts the design team considers necessary are not yet requested at the time of application, but should be added to the design team at the time of tendering.