Consortium comprising EPICo secures financing for the construction of 5 schools

Construction of new schools will soon commence in Duffel, Leopoldsburg, Waregem, Kruibeke and Knesselare. The Aurora consortium, comprising investors EPICo and Rebel and contractors Democo and Van Roey, has successfully obtained the necessary permits and secured financing for the project. Preparations have already begun for most of the schools. Now that the agreement has been signed, construction can begin. Most of the new schools should be ready within 20 months. This represents an investment of approximately 60 million euros for around 1,700 pupils.

School construction programme

The construction plans are part of an extensive school construction programme launched by the Flemish government in September 2016. The cluster of seven schools in Duffel, Wijnegem, Kasterlee, Leopoldsburg, Waregem, Kruibeke and Knesselare is the fourth cluster to be implemented by Aurora, and the second for GO!.

DBFM formula

The schools will be built using the DBFM formula, whereby Aurora Scholen is responsible for the design, construction, financing and 30-year maintenance of the buildings. The school boards will have the buildings at their disposal for 30 years in exchange for an availability fee. By combining the design, construction and maintenance in a single tender, the total cost over the life cycle of the building is optimised. The joint approach to various school projects also offers economies of scale and efficiency gains in financing, which contributes to the modernisation of the educational infrastructure in Flanders.

30 years of maintenance

The Democo and Van Roey project teams are not only responsible for the construction of the school buildings, but also for their maintenance for 30 years. This means that governing bodies, parent committees and school councils no longer have to worry about the management and maintenance of the infrastructure, allowing them to focus fully on the running of the school and the educational project.