Port house

The Port House is a building on Antwerp Island by the British-Iraqi architect Zaha Hadid (1950-2016). It houses various departments of the Antwerp Port Authority.

The new Port House, a combination of an old protected fire station, built in 1922 to a design by architect Emiel Van Averbeke, and a new building around and above this building is located at Siberiastraat or Kaai 63 at the northern end of the Kattendijkdok. It is the successor to the old Port House on Entrepotkaai 1. Since September 2016, the new building has been a workplace for 500 employees.

The new building looks like the hull of a sailing ship with a protruding bowsprit with the surface of the facets of a diamond facing the Kattendijk dock. It unites Antwerp as a world port and its diamond industry. The high beamed volume above the existing barracks rests on three concrete tubes in which the stairs and lifts are incorporated. The pillar on the outside will have a panoramic lift shaft. The outer walls and the roof of the former barracks remain unchanged.

In March 2018, the Port House was awarded the annual prize of the MIPIM (Marché International des Professionnels de l'IMmobilier) in Cannes as "best refurbished building" (the best renovated building).