Björn spent the first ten years of his career working on his own architectural practice where he learned to question standard solutions in order to go the extra mile within the same budget. He then started studying urban planning based on a fundamental realization that impactful projects start from the surrounding social fabric and not from the buildings. After a stopover at the Flemish Government Architect (Vlaams Bouwmeester), he started working as a researcher on energy and climate challenges at Ghent University. Here he met Jan Willems, who shared his interdisciplinary view on ecological and social challenges.

To have more impact, Björn went to work for a local government in Flanders after his research. There he worked as an expert on public space, urban planning and economics. Ultimately, he helped to reorganize and further expand the urban planning department in an innovative way. From his government experience, Björn has a deep understanding of the different actors, stakeholders and processes that determine the playing field of complex urban projects. Finally, in 2018 he started Lever (formerly ‘studio Levier’) together with Jan.