noAarchitecten is a team of around twenty people working on a diverse range of projects including housing, public buildings, urban transformations, healthcare and technical infrastructures in Belgium, Germany and Switzerland.
From early on, the practice has had the chance to concentrate on working with existing buildings for public programmes. In the early 2000s, when a focus on the transformation of buildings was still a marginal practice within architecture, they developed a personal approach that combines craftsmanship, technical knowledge and a love for narrative and historiography. noAarchitecten strives to take care also of future generations, producing buildings and spaces with an intelligence that allows them to adopt to future needs. Contextual continuity and a broad understanding of sustainability, in technical, cultural and social terms, are directive in creating conscious and critical projects, whilst striving for inclusive and accessible urban conditions. As such, noAarchitecten is equally interested in what architecture can be, as in what it can do. In finding relevant answers to complex questions, noAarchitecten likes to build coalitions with disciplines outside the field of architecture: artists, scenographers, social organisations, experts, but also daily users helping to consider often overlooked criteria, that can offer a contemporary understanding of the world we live in.
A number of recent publications and exhibitions have expressed great appreciation for the sobriety, layering and social and historical relevance in the work of noAarchitecten. They are invited to lecture internationally on their work and participate as guest critics at several universities, as well as being members of the jury for competitions. Their work has been rewarded for its contemporary aspects as well as its historical approach. Most recently Het Steen won the European Award AHI 2025 Built Category.
The practice consists of a dynamic and international team of 25 architects with a broad experience.
The three partners An Fonteyne, Jitse van den Berg and Philippe Vierin are closely involved in the design of all projects, with at least one of the partners attending all client meetings and leading the project together with an architect project leader. The appreciation for the work of noAarchitecten is the result of a strong synergetic cooperation between the complementary leading architects working together in all phases of a project.
