Kursaal Oostende has always been in motion. Over the years, the building evolved with its time without ever losing its character. Today, Kursaal once again stands at such a moment of transformation. Through a carefully considered renovation, we continue to build a place where live experience, architecture and heritage come together. Ready for new audiences, new concert formats and the future of live music by the sea.

The foundation for this renovation was laid back in 2018, when Kursaal Oostende launched an in-depth study into the future of the concert hall. The building had long proven its value, but the expectations of artists, organisers and audiences were evolving. Increasingly, we encountered the limitations of a venue designed exclusively for seated performances, while both established names and emerging Belgian and international artists needed greater flexibility on and around the stage.

The challenge was clear: how do we preserve the comfort and grandeur of Kursaal while creating space for new B2C and B2B events, a younger audience and a stronger international position? That question became the starting point for the transformation that is now taking shape.

In October 2024, the renovation works officially began. A symbolic moment, as the iconic red seats were the first to make way for the future. Seats that had witnessed countless concerts, performances and encounters over decades, and that for many are inseparably linked to personal memories.

To give that shared past a lasting place, visitors were given the opportunity to purchase a seat. The response was overwhelming: within just two days, 1,000 seats found a new home. In this way, a piece of Kursaal began a new life in living rooms across the country.

What followed was a phase that remained largely unseen by the public, yet was crucial for what was to come. The hall was dismantled layer by layer. Not quickly or roughly, but thoughtfully. Materials were carefully sorted and removed with sustainability in mind. The demolition took time, but it created space for something new.

In January 2025, the hall revealed itself in its most raw form. Where music and applause once echoed, there were now piles of rubble. For a moment, it felt like a place standing still — but it was precisely there that the next phase began.

In May 2025, the first concrete was poured and the hall began to take shape once again. What had long remained abstract on plans and drawings suddenly became tangible. Walls, floors and volumes started to find their place again.

That phase marked a turning point in the renovation. The entire hall was poured in concrete in just two days. For two days straight, more than twenty concrete trucks arrived and departed to complete the pour in one continuous movement, carefully planned to allow the concrete to cure evenly. It was a crucial and intensive operation, timed down to the minute. Exciting — and with a fantastic result.

The real transformation became visible in the months that followed. In September 2025, the first lifts of the modular lift system were installed — the technical heart of the new hall. In January 2026, the first lifts of the tribune followed. Step by step, it became clear how this intervention would reshape Kursaal: flexible, future-oriented and unprecedented in Belgium.

Today, we continue building towards completion. The construction works will be finalised in October 2026. This will be followed by an intensive phase in which lighting, sound and technical systems are installed and fine-tuned. In January 2027, we will reopen the doors. Not a new building, but a familiar place in a renewed form — ready for the next chapters of live experience by the sea.