new building
STAM will be a contemporary heritage forum and the Bijloke site the gateway to the city. This requires the sort of amenities the historical abbey and convent buildings are unable to offer: reception area, meeting rooms, technical and utility areas, circulation axes, etc. Hence, the brand-new reception building currently 
under construction, which will link up with the abbey and the convent.
City architect Koen Van Nieuwenhuyse designed a building that on the one hand underlines the Bijloke's historical patrimony and on the other forms a transparent, twenty-first-century portal. A wide path leads from Ghent's inner ring-road to the open house which STAM will become. Museum
garden, terrace and pond will be prominent features of the remodelled Bijloke site.
abbey
Bijloke abbey will house STAM's permanent circuit. Later on an open repository will be integrated into it. All parts of the abbey will be refurbished and security optimized. Floors will be lowered to a former level and a number of openings which were closed off in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries will be reinstated, all with a view to improving visitor flow. The link between the abbey church and the dormitory and ambulatory will be restored. Abbey and convent will once again spill over into each other.
convent
The convent will be STAM's principal public space. It, too, will be refurbished throughout and a number of historical openings reinstated.
lodge
The lodge will house various visitor amenities and several collection items. It will also have the necessary infrastructure for hosting meetings. Access to the Poor Room and the Baudelo Room will be separate from the actual circuit. The infirmary will be given over to collection management and conservation. This is the ideal location for a repository for part of the collection.
