The end of an era is here. Well, maybe not a literal one but it certainly felt like the most magnificent era of happiness to me. A curtain will close and the audience will cry but it was so noteworthy that it will stay in our minds forever. Our favorite tower and beloved pop-up concept, the A-Tower, will be no more but its’ memory will create enough joy for the crowd to last another century.
It all started in May 2016. A bunch of creatives were given the opportunity to give life to a forgotten piece of our city. A tower that was known as the tall brown bizarre building in the middle of De Keyserlei. Everyone knew it was there, no one seemed to know who was housed in there or what its’ history was. The tower itself has not been around for so long, it was built in the late sixties, early seventies and before that, a grand hotel used to take up that particular spot on De Keyserlei. The hotel was a masterpiece and was an architectural loss for our city when it was demolished to make space for the tower. Luckily, a little more than 40 years later the grotesque tower was transformed by some genius masterminds into a marvelous playground which was applauded greatly by us, the kids of our generation.
These masterminds were all young people from our city that had experience with several creative projects. Since they have been at it for quite some time I will not mention all of these various projects but to name just a few, Bert is the owner of Bar Leon, De Klopperij was co-creator of tram de lux, and Bertrand worked on Maanrock & Borgerwood festival. These young creatives had some extra pair of hands for the restaurant upstairs, Noorderlicht. Chef Patrick Proot was the genius behind the amazing mouthgasmic flavors that we could experience in the high end restaurant at the top floor.
Never in the creative history of our city, will a project so magnificent have taken place. We will always remember the amazing drinks on the terrace of Bar Gloed on the 4th floor and glorious skyline with sunrise after a night of clubbing with my bestie on the 21st floor in Club Goud. During the summer other floors were used as creative spaces as well. You could participate in a yoga class, there was a study floor, there was an art expo and even a popup therapy floor was present. Laser shooting, escape rooms, theatre plays and so on. You couldn’t imagine how much creativity was flowing through this building.
I could go on and on about how much I am in love with this Tower, about how my view of the ugly building transformed into a golden glow that I will never forget, about how its creators have given the city and its youngsters a gift which was worth more than anything else on the planet. I am certain that everyone in the city will be present this weekend at the closing party and that we will all feel a little heartbreak after the end of this mindblowing era.
Oh A-Tower, how magnificent you were, with your amazing panoramic views, with your marvelous beats of the night, with your fascinating cuisine, with your stunning décor. Missed you shall be!
Saturday January 28th will mark the final beginning of the end. Come celebrate at the A-Tower, high in the sky, one last time. The party will last until Sunday, noon. More information on or .
Text by Cleo Klapholz
Pics by This Is Antwerp, A-Tower and Pascal Vandecasteele