The former early 16th century guild house “De Grote Zalm”, named after the large sculpted salmon above the entrance, was one of the earliest renaissance buildings in Belgium. The facade has been decorated by exceptionally fine polychromed sculpture, based on Italian nautical motifs as a reference to the owners, the fishmongers. Since it has been hit by a bomb in the Second World War, the building suffered a lot of structural problems. 

Causing damage to the fragile Avender stone and structural instability, an emergency intervention had to be carried out. ARTER conceived and coordinates a challenging exterior restoration where restoration of fine sculpture and structural interventions are combined. Since too little traces of the original 16th century finish was found, the 19th century bichromy will be restored.