Ghent Student Accommodation
The background
Prior to the construction of Kantienberg Student Accommodation, the number of students attending University in Ghent, Belgium had grown from 20,000 to 60,000. The rental market had been unable to keep up with the growing demand for affordable student accommodation, forcing many students to commute back and forth to their place of residence.
The University of Ghent made the decision to construct 656 high quality student apartments close to the University’s campus to address the shortage. In 2010, Invesis was awarded the PPP contract to design, build, finance and maintain (DBFM) the concession. Kantienberg was the first Belgian accommodation project that utilises the DBFM model.
A key objective was to make maximum use of space by including as many apartments as possible on the available land, taking into account the building height restrictions in place. Other focus areas included flexibility, logical set up of the design, and architecturally fitting in the surroundings.
Since 2012, the project has been operational and maintained to a high standard that meets the terms of the project agreement. By partnering with Invesis, The University of Ghent worked with an experienced, trusted partner, and received purpose-built accommodation that aids the learning experience of students in Ghent.
Client
The University of Ghent
Capital Value
€41m
Sponsor/Investor
Invesis
Consortium
Kantienberg NV
Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC)
BAM Interbuild nv
Operations and Maintenance (O&M)
Imtech Belgium nv and TK Elevator Belgium nv Krupp
Business value
Prompt delivery of the project was vital to the client as the student apartments were urgently required. Consequently, the main challenge was to execute construction works within a very short time.
To accomplish this successfully, Invesis worked alongside our construction partners to integrate prefabricated elements into the design of the apartments. As a result, our construction partner was able to follow a very strict construction scheme.
The concession has been operational for 12 years and we continue to work closely with the client, in conjunction with Imtech Belgium nv and TK Elevator, to deliver a range of managed services to ensure the accommodation building is maintained to a high standard. For example, as part of lifecycle maintenance, traditional lighting was replaced by energy saving LED lights, reducing the energy cost as well as future repair maintenance costs.
Key features
By using a PPP model and partnering with Invesis, the project…
- was designed by the reknowned Huiswerk Architects, who ere selected due to their expertise in designing innovative accomodation infrastructure in the Netherlands and Belgium
- is a high quality asset due to the lifecycle approach of the contract, that is working towards achieving maximum energy efficiency. For example, the building is connected to a heat network to reduce carbon and cut costs.
