Brewer's house

The Brouwershuis was built in 1550 by Gilbert Van Schoonbeke, who wanted to address the water supply shortage that affected the dozens of breweries that the city of Antwerp was rich in at that time. Originally, most city breweries were concentrated around Kammenstraat. However, the breweries there had poor groundwater. Gilbert Van Schoonbeke developed a new urban project around the first new stream (now Brouwersvliet) including a Waterhouse from which he managed to supply clean water to the many new breweries that settled here through an ingenious water distribution system.
The water entered the city walls through a small river, the Schijn, and flowed directly into a large reservoir in the waterhouse through a pipe. Using a horse mill, the water was pumped up and poured back into above-ground reservoirs from where it could be transported via a piping system directly to the surrounding breweries. It was a high-quality example of 16th-century technology. Later, in 1581, the brewing nation established their craft seat in the Waterhouse, which has since been known as the Brouwershuis.
The Brouwershuis is currently closed to the public due to necessary renovation works but will reopen soon.

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