Bijloke

Bijloke in Ghent is an 830-seat music centre whose main Concert Hall occupies a vast 13th-century hospital ward. Its defining feature is the original oak roof structure: a soaring timber canopy above a contemporary auditorium designed for clear sound and close focus. Alongside the flagship hall, the complex includes the 238-seat Kraakhuis for smaller concerts, making the venue suited to both orchestral scale and intimate sets.

A hospital ward becomes a concert hall

The Bijloke site began as a new hospital complex around 1228, built after Ghent’s earlier hospital had become too small. The enormous ward at the heart of today’s venue dates from 1251 and formed part of one of Western Europe’s largest medieval care institutions; Cistercian sisters cared for patients on the site. The hospital later moved, leaving the ward available for a different future.

That future arrived in 1988, when the former ward hosted its first classical concert after restoration and conversion into a concert hall. Ghent formalized the project in 1999 through the non-profit Stedelijke Concertzaal, while the 16th-century Kraakhuis joined the venue for compact performances. A major 2019–2020 renovation then recast the Concert Hall with new acoustics, seating, and choir stalls placed behind the stage, bringing listeners unusually close to the players.

The room today

Bijloke programs classical music, jazz, contemporary work, and festivals, with an explicit preference for original artistic viewpoints and discovery alongside established repertoire. The Concert Hall divides seating among stalls, corbeille, galleries, and choir stalls; those rear-stage benches face the conductor and orchestra directly. For a smaller-scale night, the Kraakhuis uses an intimate arena-style layout with 238 numbered seats. Several foyers and equipped bars support the interval and post-show flow.