AB is changing. In the coming years, we’ll gradually transform from a concert venue into an open music house: a hotspot at the heart of the city where you’re welcome from your morning coffee to your last drink at the bar.
We want to use the connecting power of music to bring our building to life from morning to night. Daytime, evening and nighttime activities will eventually flow seamlessly into one another. The renovation of AB’s building on the Steenstraat/Rue des Pierres and the opening of the new AB Café will catalyse this ambitious metamorphosis.
From early 2026, AB will house two new locations that will further transform it into an open community:
- A corner café with outdoor seating, just off the pedestrianised zone
- A multifunctional community space with roof terrace, perfect for casual activities such as workshops, DJ battles, talks about current issues, (music) book presentations, acoustic live sets, residencies for young musical talent, neighbourhood meetings, and more
With this open call, AB is looking for designers who will shape the interior of these new spaces. The goal is to develop both locations into fixtures of Brussels city life: a haven for young artists and collectives, an accessible space with experimentation and surprise encounters at its core.
AB Café
In 2026, AB will open a brand-new café that will revive the warm and sociable atmosphere of the old AB Café. This time, it’ll be in a more approachable and attractive location: on the corner of the Boulevard Anspachlaan and the Steenstraat/Rue des Pierres, to the left of the concert venue’s main entrance.
The corner building currently consists of:
- Approx. 100 m² of usable area on the ground floor (3.8 m in height)
- Bathrooms and storage in the basement
Our vision entails the removal of the shared wall between the corner building and AB’s main entrance and the re-orientation of a staircase in AB. This will create an additional 28.5 m² of useable space in the corner building, with direct access and visibility from AB.
We aim for a complete renewal of the interior. No public tender is required for this part of the assignment
AB Community Space
A multifunctional space with a roof terrace will be set up on the fifth floor. This community space is intended for casual activities such as workshops, DJ battles, talks about current issues, (music) book presentations, acoustic live sets, residencies for young musical talent, neighbourhood meetings, and more. The space will also be used for culinary concepts, corporate events and pop-up merchandise shops for artists performing at AB.
The interior space will have:
- An area of 170 m² (3 m available height)
- A capacity of 146 people
- Full plasterwork, parquet flooring, ceiling with acoustic flocking, appropriate ventilation, heating and power outlets
Above this multipurpose space, there will be a cosy rooftop terrace. While the terrace will have a direct connection to the community space, it is not part of the design assignment and will fall partly under the law concerning public tenders.
If the collaboration goes well, we will consider future assignments such as the design of public meeting spaces, a renewed locker area, refurbishment of the backstage catering area, and more.
The process
- Registration: by 05/02/2025, 14:00
- Selection of organisations for the second round (these parties will receive compensation for the elaboration of an initial proposal): 13/02/2025
- On-site visit and briefing: the week of 20/02/2025
- Submission of proposals: 10/04/2025
- Presentation of proposals to the jury: 17/04/2025 or 24/04/2025
- Commissioning and start of the assignment: 03/05/2025
Registration
Interested? Send an email before February 5th, 2025, 2:00 PM to opencall@abconcerts.be with your basic vision and motivation (one A4 page), three reference projects, and the contact details & working method of yourself and/or your team.
AB strives to be an inclusive organisation with a team of staff and an audience that reflect the diversity of Brussels. Therefore, we encourage applications from candidates who will support our vision. Furthermore, we also want to encourage emerging entrepreneurs and smaller design agencies to participate in our open call.
