This one of the credos adhered to by Alternativ, whose professionalism and creativity have won over many a client. Like Yves Smeets, General Manager of Santhea, which again entrusted us with designing and fitting out an office space of 400 m2 in Avenue des Dessus-de-Lives à Loyers at the Namur Office Park.
As an employer federation for healthcare institutions in Wallonia and Brussels, Santhea represents the majority of hospitals, as well as retirement (and care) homes, daycare centres, residences – services, psychiatric care homes, mental health services, rehabilitation centres, sheltered living initiatives, clinical biology and pathological anatomy laboratories.
As an employer federation for healthcare institutions in Wallonia and Brussels, Santhea represents the majority of hospitals, as well as retirement (and care) homes, daycare centres, residences – services, psychiatric care homes, mental health services, rehabilitation centres, sheltered living initiatives, clinical biology and pathological anatomy laboratories.
Santhea positions itself as the essential point of contact for the authorities, as well as the political world and other players and providers in the health sector. And if you position yourself as a leader, then you need a workspace that is both productive and a vehicle for wellbeing – in particular one with the ability to accommodate all of your staff and federation members in one big meeting room. But it wasn’t always like this… “Santhea has two main offices, one in Watermael Boitsfort, the other in Loyers, near Namur, in Avenue des Dessus-de-Lives, which is located in Namur Office Park. Loyers is just a stone’s throw from the Daussoulx motorway interchange, making it “the ideal location compromise for most of our staff, who are extremely mobile, as well as for our members,” says Yves Smeets.
Ideally situated, perhaps, but… “First of all,” adds the Santhea GM, “the offices in Building 4 of Namur Office Park were too cramped. This meant that to host some of our meetings with our members, we had to hire a meeting room somewhere else. Then we wanted to own rather than lease our offices. So we left Building 4 and bought a great space of 400 m2 in Building 12, also in Namur Office Park.” Once that was done, Santhea faced another major challenge: to fit out this new workspace to suit everyone.
From A to Z
“We had worked with Alternativ previously,” continues Smeets. “However, for the sake of transparency and sound governance, we asked for three proposals from Design & Build companies. After comparing the various price quotes, we could see that Alternativ was both the most competitive and the most attractive for us. Alternativ was also able to create a genuine relationship based on trust. Once they got down to work, we were able to appreciate the professionalism, creativity and flexibility of the Alternativ team – from the interior designer right through to their technical people.”
The big benefit from working so well and efficiently with Alternativ across the whole of the project? “We now have a conference room worthy of the name!” enthuses Yves Smeets – as do all of the employees from Namur and Brussels.
