110 years in the construction industry

When a family-run company reaches its fourth generation of ownership with outstanding economic results and growing business potential, you can be sure there are many factors behind its recipe for success. Essentially, these can be summed up as plenty of hard work and business skill, combined — in culinary parlance — with a pinch of good fortune.
The Ostend-based company Van Huele has been listed on the contract and construction company register in Belgium and abroad since 1909. The company boasts a solid family tradition coupled with a future-oriented business vision. Now run by the fourth generation of the family, Van Huele has grown to become one of the most dynamic and diverse companies in the construction industry renowned for its range of services, state-of-the-art machinery and highly qualified and skilled employees. The activities of this historic company include everything from the restoration of churches, old buildings and façades to the construction of bridges, roads, canals, dams and new residential, commercial and office buildings.
To celebrate 110 years of business and the opening of new offices at the company’s headquarters, in August 2019 Van Huele held a major event with images, sounds and dance performances curated by event organiser Madame est Servie directed by Virginie Debrander.
The new offices stand out for their brightness and transparency along with the floor tiles chosen from the Buildtech/2.0 line from Floor Gres, where the austere, formal aesthetics of concrete contrast with the more luminous and paler-coloured wall tiles and furnishings.
The company’s strengths include its operational capacity and its attention to both the environment and the context in which it operates.
It was therefore no surprise when it received the highest possible score in the last VCA audit, which measures occupational safety levels and attention to health and the environment.
Despite the relatively small sum collected, the fundraising initiative held on the day of the opening is highly representative of the company’s links with the local community . At the celebrations for the opening of the new office building and the 110th anniversary, guests had the chance to make a free donation, which the company management supplemented to reach a total of 10,000 euros. The sum will go to the Mayor’s Social Fund benefiting the community of Ostend, the city where the Van Huele construction company is based and operates.