After being delayed for eight years, a Belgian court has finally granted the start of construction of the new penitentiary infrastructure in Termonde and scrapping the legal plea submitted by the residents against the project. 

Régie des Bâtiments, the real estate manager of the Federal State, will now open consultation with BAM PPP, the winning consortium for the project, to define a schedule for the new construction. The new prison will replace the old Dendermonde penitentiary allowing an extension of the capacity to 444 prisoners. The project will be implemented under the design, build, finance, and maintain (DBFM) model for 25 years concession period. 

Archivolt Architects and BAM Utiliteitsbouw were responsible for the design of the prison, and Interbuild and Galère (a subsidiary of BAM) will be responsible for the construction and maintenance of the prison. BAM PPP will provide hard facilities maintenance for a period of 25 years and soft facilities management for a period of five years, which will be limited to cleaning, gardening, laundry, and catering services.

The scope of services excludes any services that involve direct contact with detainees, and will include the following:

• a courtroom;
• a visitors area;
• a reception area for prisoners;
• an administrative services area;
• a control and intervention area;
• a central prison building containing 300 prison cells;
• a logistics building, including workspace, technical services, kitchen, and laundry services; and
• an outdoor sports area and internal sports room.