Archipelago

What Archipelago does

archipelago (legal entity archipelago architects SA/NV, registered in Belgium under enterprise number BE 0667.985.847) is a privately held architecture and masterplanning firm operating from four offices — Brussels (headquarters, Avenue de Tervuren 253), Leuven, Paris, and Barcelona — with a workforce of 140+ professionals. The firm delivers contextual and sustainable architectural services across four primary sectors: living (residential, social housing, densification), caring (hospitals, care homes, psychiatric and rehabilitation facilities), working (offices, commercial and retail), and learning (schools, universities, research facilities). Notable commissions include the HELORA five-hospital network in Wallonia, the UZ Leuven Campus Gasthuisberg redesign, the CHU Liège Notre Dame des Bruyères extension, the National Bank of Belgium BNB1 renovation targeting BREEAM and WELL Platinum certification, the Kop van Kessel-Lo multifunctional urban complex, and the Greenpeace Belgium HQ adaptive-reuse project.

The firm's core technology stack centres on advanced Building Information Modeling (BIM) for project delivery, supported by an internal Research and Innovation (R&I) Unit committed to circular and resilient design aligned with the UN 2030 Agenda and SDGs. Service delivery combines masterplanning, new construction, renovation, transformation, and contextual/evidence-based design across healthcare, education, residential, commercial, and public-sector clients; proof points include BREEAM 'Very Good' certification on EXOS (Kop van Kessel-Lo) and the 'Smart Building' award at the Green Solutions Awards Belgium 2025 for the Greenpeace HQ project.

Commercially, archipelago operates a project-based professional services model with pricing determined per engagement based on scope and complexity, typically structured as multi-year contracts. Work is secured via direct enterprise client engagement (hospitals, universities, government bodies, corporations), competitive public and private tenders, and consortium partnerships with engineering and architecture firms such as VK Architects & Engineers, Tractebel, SeARCH, Besix RED, David Chipperfield Architects, Macobo-Stabo, and Cordeel. Geographic reach covers Belgium, France, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, with flagship infrastructure, healthcare, and heritage projects anchoring a steady pipeline of long-cycle institutional commissions.

Name

Archipelago

Legal name

archipelago architects SA/NV

Website

https://archipelago.be

Company type

Private

Founded year

1996

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

archipelago architects is a Belgian architecture and masterplanning firm with 140+ staff across Brussels, Leuven, Paris, and Barcelona, delivering contextual, sustainable design for healthcare, education, residential, commercial, and public-sector clients across Western Europe.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Architecture Services

NAICS

Architectural Services (54131)

SIC

Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700)

akta.pro primary industry

Architectural Design Services (BPAHAKAA)

Keywords

• Sustainable architecture services
• Contextual building design
• Healthcare facility design
• Masterplanning urban design
• Circular construction design

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Architecture and Design Services: Professional architecture services including masterplanning, new construction, renovation, and transformation projects for healthcare, education, residential, and commercial sectors

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Archipelago architects is a European architecture firm delivering contextual and sustainable architectural design, masterplanning, new construction, renovation, and transformation services across four sectors: living (residential), caring (healthcare and care facilities), working (commercial/office), and learning (educational institutions). The firm supports its practice with an internal Research and Innovation unit focused on circular and resilient design aligned with the UN 2030 Agenda and SDGs, and operates from offices in Brussels, Leuven, Paris, and Barcelona with 140+ staff.

Product overview

Archipelago is an architecture firm (archipelago architects SA/NV) providing contextual and sustainable architecture services across four sectors: living (residential housing), caring (healthcare/care facilities), working (commercial/office), and learning (educational institutions). The firm offers architectural design, masterplanning, and research and innovation services, but does not operate as a software product company with discrete named products, modules, or digital offerings.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Architecture Design and Masterplanning Services
• Healthcare and Care Facility Architecture Services
• Residential and Living Architecture Services
• Commercial and Working-Sector Architecture Services
• Educational and Learning-Sector Architecture Services
• Research and Innovation (R&I) Services

Quantifiable outcome

• Greenpeace Belgium HQ won the 'Smart Building' Award at Green Solutions Awards Belgium 2025
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers14 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and regular.

• VK Architects & EngineerscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing partnership on hospital and healthcare infrastructure projects including the HELORA network development (5 hospitals in Wallonia) and various hospital redesign projects
• TractebelcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEngineering consultancy partner for major hospital projects including HELORA network and UZ Leuven Campus Gasthuisberg redesign
• SeARCHcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration with SeARCH architects from Amsterdam on the Kop van Kessel-Lo project - a 76,000m² multifunctional urban complex
• Besix REDmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership on urban transformation projects including Gelatinewijk transformation in Hasselt - 41,300m² brownfield to urban district
• David Chipperfield ArchitectsmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaboration on BNB1 project for National Bank of Belgium - targeting BREEAM and WELL Platinum certification
• Macobo-StaboregularImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerEngineering partner on multiple projects including Grey Lake office building and Kop van Kessel-Lo project
• CordeelregularImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerConstruction partner for Brucargo Centraal logistics warehouses (33,500m²) and Woonzone Hasseltsestraat residential development

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Perkins&Will: Global architecture practice with one of the deepest healthcare portfolios worldwide, directly competing for European hospital and university commissions. Comparable in evidence-based design methodology and healthcare-sector specialization.
• HKS: US-headquartered firm with significant European healthcare architecture practice and strong sustainable-design credentials. Directly comparable for hospital and academic medical centre commissions.
• MVRDV: Rotterdam-based architecture practice of similar scale with a comparable focus on sustainable, contextual design across mixed-use, residential, and public buildings in Europe. Both compete for the same pool of European institutional and developer clients.
• BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group): Danish-headquartered design practice with strong sustainability and contextual-design credentials, active across healthcare, education, residential, and commercial typologies in Europe. Comparable in mission and award visibility (e.g., Mies van der Rohe nominations).
• Mecanoo: Dutch architecture firm with comparable scale and a strong portfolio across healthcare, education, residential, and public-sector projects in the Benelux and broader European market. Both firms emphasize contextual, research-driven design and sustainability credentials (BREEAM/Leed).

Broad incumbents

• BDP (Building Design Partnership): Large European interdisciplinary design practice with strong healthcare, education, and public-sector portfolios. Competes for the same institutional commissions in the UK and continental Europe at larger project scale.
• OMA (Office for Metropolitan Architecture): Established Rotterdam-based global architecture practice with significantly larger scale and broader typology coverage. Competes for the same European institutional and developer-led commissions at the larger end of the project-size spectrum.
• Zaha Hadid Architects: Globally recognised architecture practice competing for high-profile European cultural, commercial, and infrastructure projects. Operates at a different scale but shares a research-led, design-forward positioning.

Regional players

• Stevens Van Samang: Belgian architecture firm of comparable scale, active across residential, commercial, and public-sector projects in the same Belgian market. A direct competitor for local tenders where archipelago is currently dominant.
• AWG architecten: Dutch architecture firm with strong healthcare and education portfolios in the Benelux market. Overlaps with archipelago on hospital and university commissions across the same regional geography.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/archipelagoarchitects
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/ar-te
• Instagraminstagram.com/archipelago.archis

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds4 records

Investors4 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Archipelago