Scholen Van Morgen Flanders, Belgium

Launched in 2010, the Scholen van Morgen (Schools of Tomorrow) programme has an ambition unprecedented in Europe in terms of the sheer number of its projects and their social impact. One of Belgium’s largest public-private partnerships, it has built 182 new schools in the Flanders region, with a combined footprint of 710,000 m².

Each of these new schools has its own distinctive - mainly architectural - features (one occupies a converted former monastery), but all have one thing in common: their low energy consumption. This massive upgrading of the building stock has become essential, since more than half of all Belgian school buildings are at least 65 years old. Under the terms of the contract for this €1.5-billion programme, the new buildings are guaranteed to remain maintainable for at least 30 years. With the exception of one that is due to open this year, every one of these schools was completed and delivered between 2017 and 2022 with no budget overruns.

To ensure full societal integration, more than 80% of Flanders’ Schools of Tomorrow are open to local people outside school hours, which is helping to drive the economic revitalisation of their surrounding communities.

133,000 students now attend Schools of Tomorrow built since 2010

TECHNICAL SHEET

• Project owner: The Regional Government of Flanders

• Architects: 70 international architectural teams

• Developer: AG Real Estate and BNP Paribas Fortis