Belgium’s largest military aircraft hangar

This project is the first phase of a complete renovation of the airport infrastructure in Melsbroek and was necessary because the existing hangar was not suitable for the new aircrafts. The new hangar has a surface area of 13,621m², has 3 bays for the simultaneous maintenance of 3 aircrafts and also includes offices (1,200 m²), a logistics area (3,500 m²), various storage and workshop areas (3,000 m²) and parking lots around and under the building.

For this project, Tractebel has worked as part of the consortium between Democo, Kardham Architects and Styfhals Architects and was responsible for the HVAC design, electricity and plumbing (MEP), the design of concrete structures, acoustics, fire engineering, EPC (sustainability), and roadway including apron and sewerage. The teams were proud to collaborate on this multidisciplinary mission that included experts for MEP (mechanical, electrical and plumbing), fire safety engineering, EPB, acoustics, structural engineering, and infrastructure engineering. And especially to have been able to solve challenges such as making it an energy efficient building considering the large entrance gates of the maintenance shed.

“I am especially proud that we were able to participate in the design of such a unique building. The challenge for me was that we realized this multi-disciplinary project with the input of services across multiple sites in the country.” Frank Pirens, Project Manager