The building in itself, formerly a textile mill and factory belonging to a well-known plastics brand, embodies valuable architectural heritage. The three symmetrical, brick-built halls feature a unique façade that gloriously embellishes the industrial town of Aalst and the banks of the river Dendre.
Hans Sterck, with the collaboration of the Objekt Architecten studio, has given ark38 a contemporary spatial and luminous dynamism. This has been achieved both through the generous glazed openings, which are reinforced by concrete frames that are either rectilinear or rounded at the top and, then internally, by separating the exhibition areas using curvilinear concrete staircases and explicit wooden and metal structures to this end.

The furniture, lighting and iconic objects of renowned designers from all over the world, especially Belgian designers such as Christophe Gevers, George Martin, Léon Stynen, Vincent Van Duysen, Maarten Van Severen, Stéphane Beel and young emerging designers such as AE Studio, Bultin, Jeff Rutten, Pieter-Jan Fontein, Gosseye+Verbeke, Nele Van Daele and many others, have a place here.