Homepage Vlaams Bouwmeester
Open Call 51
Welcome to the page of Open Call 51. You can apply for six new projects. The application period runs until 11:00 AM (CET) on Friday 24 April 2026. The first selections will be announced in June 2026. You will find all the information you need to apply in the selection guide on the project sheets.
If you don’t find an answer to your question, you can always contact us.
+32 2 553 01 11
Véronique Claessens about Open Call 51
With this new Open Call, I present to you six projects. I am pleased that the clients behind these projects are ambitious, put quality first, and have placed their trust in us to prepare the project file with them and accompany them through the procedure for appointing a design team.
Over the next five years, I will be placing the design of public space high on the agenda. I am therefore delighted that this theme runs through all the projects in this 51st edition of the Open Call. Public space helps to determine the quality of our daily lives and must be designed with the utmost care for and in consultation with its users.
Urban design and attention to public space will be the common thread in the redevelopment of a large social housing project in Dendermonde, the construction of public buildings in Herentals and Nieuwpoort, and the three assignments in Bonheiden, Halle and Ostend.
Housing needs will be another key theme in the ambition note that I will present at the end of April. In the coming months, I will issue specific calls to local authorities and housing corporations that want to join us in tackling the housing challenge. Together, we can explore how we can develop a future-oriented vision on this and other themes and how we can increase the quality and social relevance of projects run by local authorities in general. The results of these six Open Call projects will undoubtedly also provide valuable insights in this regard.
I look forward to viewing the tenders of the design teams. As always, we will make a diverse selection from among them, together with the clients. After all, the diversity of the design research in the Open Call remains one of the great assets for achieving high-quality realizations. We will consult with the design teams about the present assignments and discuss the concepts with the clients. I therefore encourage you designers to submit your tenders and make your ambitions for these six projects known.
See you soon!
Véronique Claessens, Flemish Government Architect
