Berlaymont building
Encyclopedia
The Berlaymont is an office building in Brussels
, Belgium that houses the headquarters of the European Commission
, which is the executive of the European Union
(EU). The structure is located at Schuman roundabout
at 200 Rue de la Loi, in what is known as the "European district".
since its construction, and has become a symbol of the Commission (its name becoming a metonymy
for the Commission) and the European presence in Brussels. The Commission itself is spread over some 60 odd buildings, but the Berlaymont is the institution's headquarters, being the seat of the President of the European Commission
and its College of Commissioners
.
The following Directorates-General (departments) are also based in the Berlaymont: Personnel and Administration
(ADMIN), Bureau of European Policy Advisers
(BEPA), Communication
(COMM), Brussels Office of Infrastructure and Logistics (OIB), Secretariat-General
(SG) and the Legal Service
(SJ).
The office of the President and the Commission boardroom are on the 13th floor (occupied by the President in defiance of superstition surrounding the number), together with the meeting room of the Hebdo and the restaurant La Convivialité.
rapidly growing since their arrival in Brussels in 1958, the European Commission
required more and more office space across the city. By 1965, the Commission alone had 3,200 staff scattered across 8 different cramped buildings. The situation, which started as soon as they arrived due to the lack of large office blocks, became critical and the Commission tried to concentrate its staff in a number of rented buildings around Schuman roundabout
. The Belgian government, becoming aware of the problem and keen to ensure that the Commission stayed, offered to build a prestigious administration complex large enough to house the entire staff. President
Walter Hallstein
was interested but cautious about making long-term commitments while the issue of where the institutions were based was still being discussed. However, the need for office space was overwhelming.
The Belgian government's proposal required sufficient land which would preferably be in the Leopold Quarter
(where they were already based) and near the homes of the civil servants to the south and east. The land chosen was then occupied by the Dames de Berlaymont, a 300 year old convent
which managed a venerable girls' school. The convent and school moved to a larger and quieter site out of the city centre in Waterloo
. Once the Belgian state finished their new school and built infrastructure to it, the Dames de Berlaymont handed the site, which they had been under pressure to sell to developers for years, to the Belgian government in November 1963.
To organise what was needed, the Belgian Foreign Minister
Pierre Wigny suggested a "Commission consultative Berlaymont", where the Commission, the Belgian Public Works Ministry, the contractor
s and the architects could draw up the plans. However, the Belgian state desired a building not just tailored to the Commission, but something that could be used by its own civil servants were the Commission to leave. This was also why they favoured a central office building rather than the project for the construction of a "European city" on the Etterbeek
. Due to the plans not meeting their exact desires, the Commission gained a lower rent.
In 1963, the first wing (north east) entered its active phase and was scheduled to be finished by the end of 1965. Concreting on that wing was finished in November 1964, completion was pushed back from the start of 1966 by a year due to the rail companies failing to vault the nearby railway line that prevented access to the ground floor. The wing was completed on 1 February 1967, with the first civil servants moving in three months later. The three month gap was due to disagreements about the conditions of the lease. The Belgian state was to lease the whole building to the Commission starting from when the work was finished, however the other member states
found the cost excessive and wanted to explore other options, gaining a lease for the one and only completed wing instead. The lease came into effect on 1 May 1967 and cost €545,366 (the whole building would be €4.82 million, a reduction of €2.48 million taking into account construction costs). The building was only fully occupied at the beginning of September of that year.
became available for the Commission. Furthermore, there was a building on Rue Archimède, this would allow the Commission to concentrate itself in these buildings around Schuman roundabout and vacate the outer office complex. The cost of this deterred the Council from approving the plan, seeing the rent being driven too high.
The Commission also wanted to occupy the whole of the Berlaymont, which it shared with the Council and Parliament. The public most associated the Commission with the building and it was seen as a matter of pride that they occupy the entire building. Doing so would give them more room and if they occupied that with the Joyeuse Entrée building which it had before, they would have enough space and the Charlemagne building could be occupied entirely by the Council. This would mean they could communicate well but not have to work in the same building. The Council eventually agreed but moved into a different building on the roundabout.
was found in the building in 1990. The civil servants' trade unions put on the pressure and the issue was used as a pretext for a full renovation as the facilities had become outdated and were not able to cope with the influx of new members
.
Demolition was not an option as the foundations anchored the local road and metro networks, which would be put in danger if the Berlaymont were to be destroyed. However it was hard to establish a full renovation budget due to budgetary constraints of the Belgian government. Hence, it was decided to bring in private sector financial institutions in the form of a management and renovation company: SA Berlaymont 2000 (in which the Belgian state remained a major shareholder). Berlaymont 2000 would pay €74.3 million to the Belgian state (also acting as a guarantor) and provide €160 million for the work, and in exchange it would gain a long lease on the building. Seeing it as a profitable investment, the following companies joined Berlaymont 2000: Citilease (affiliate of Citybank), CGER
and BACOB
. They began to provide finance and the Commission's rent went up considerably to cover costs. The project was scheduled to start in 1994 and to take five years.
At the end of 1991, the Commissioners
and their cabinets
moved to the rapidly completed Breydel building
while other departments moved out to buildings across the quarter and the wider capital: Auderghem
, Evere
and Etterbeek
. In total, 11 buildings costing €14.8 million a year to the Belgian state: in return the Commission kept paying the Berlaymont rent while it was vacated. However, the project began to face setbacks which tarnished Belgium's image as it failed to decide working arrangements which put back preliminary studies until Berlaymont 2000 took over in 1996 and set up a team to carry out the necessary studies. The Commission then stalled, doubting that the proposed plans would sufficiently adapt the Berlaymont to its new needs. Eventually, the plans were adapted enough for the Commission not only to accept them and return to the Berlaymont but to pay the renovation costs, signing a long lease in 1997 with an option to purchase.
Work on removing the asbestos began in the summer of 1995, three and a half years after the building was vacated. Work was expected to finish in February 1997, however inefficient organisation led to delay after delay: rumours about air pollution and violation of standards, electricity failures and asbestos outside the screen brought work to a halt. Longer time frames and more capital were demanded to complete the work. Outside management was brought in with asbestos removal being completed in 1999. Renovation work started on 1 June 1999 with work on full modernisation of the building, including better natural light flows and construction was expected to be finished by the end of 2001 according to optimistic forecasts. However once more there were further delays from the subcontractors, Berlaymont 2000 and SNCB who were constructing a railway link below the building. Completion date was pushed back each year until it reached mid-2004.
Despite further considerable delays and legal battles, the building was handed over to the Commission in stages, starting from 1 July 2004 with civil servants moving back just before the start of the Barroso Commission
, with their related cabinets and a total of 2,700 civil servants. In total, renovation took 13 years, five years longer than it took to build. The December 1998 handover date was delayed five times and the bill to the Belgian state for the poor planning and disagreements amounted, by some estimates, to €824 million.
The building was again evacuated on 27 May 2009 when the alarm was set off.
, in association with Jean Gilson (Groupe Alpha), André & Jean Polak and with the recommendations of the engineer Joris Schmidt. It was directly inspired by the 1958 secretariat building of UNESCO
in Paris (which was designed by Marcel Breuer
, Pier Luigi Nervi
and Bernard Zehrfuss
). The technical design was ground breaking at the time and generated an enthusiastic response from one particular Brussels journal: "This design concept reflects both the 20th century innovative spirit and sheer audacity and brings to mind the astonishing civil engineering arrow at the 1958 exhibition
." – Présences magazine.
The building has a cruciform
design with four wings of unequal size spanning from a central core. It was built on piles located beneath each wing, supporting a 40 metre high narrow ridge of concrete which in turn supported steel beams forming the frame of the glass façade covering the prefabricated floors. The top, 13th, floor however was supported directly by the upper beams, suspended entirely by them making the lower level free standing except for the core. The design is intended to convey a feeling of light and transparency. It further includes decorative details such as sculptures and frescos to prevent it from becoming monotonous.
The complex was initially designed to house 3000 civil servants and 1600 cars in a four-level underground car park under the whole complex. Foundations run to 20 metres deep, the number of lower levels (which link to the road tunnels and metro) was due to the 55 metre height restriction around the Cinquantenaire (so as not to spoil the view) It also included seventeen flexible conference rooms which could be used by the European Parliament
and Council of Ministers
. There were a further nine Commission meeting rooms on the upper floors. Free space outside was converted into public gardens and terraces.
Post-renovation, the structure has not changed except for a press extension, but there have been a number of internal and landscape changes. Traffic flow has been improved, but underground parking has been reduced by 25% and surface parking has been almost entirely converted into a pedestrian mall which flows into the surrounding urban landscape. Security has also been improved, and a lighting well provides natural light to the restaurant and multimedia centres. The helipad was replaced by a cupola which houses the commission's meeting room, looking out over Schuman roundabout. The building also meets the strictest environmental standards reusing light, power and heat throughout the building.
The façade was replaced with a curtain wall with mobile glass screens that adapt to weather conditions and reduce glare while still allowing light in. They also act as a sound barrier, reducing noise from the rue de la Loi. The windows cut off the air conditioning when opened to prevent energy being wasted. Offices, which are now larger, can have their heating adjusted automatically or individually and it is automatically turned off when the room is unoccupied.
The building now has 240,000 m² of floor space on 18 levels, connected by 42 lifts and 12 escalators. Offices for 3,000 officials and meeting rooms are in the tower. Restaurant and services, a 900 seat cafeteria
, TV studio, conference rooms, storage rooms, Nordic sauna
, car parking for over 1,100 vehicles and various services occupy the basement. Architects Pierre Lallemand, Steven Beckers and Wilfried Van Campenhout carried out the 1991–2004 renovation
.
Brussels
Brussels , officially the Brussels Region or Brussels-Capital Region , is the capital of Belgium and the de facto capital of the European Union...
, Belgium that houses the headquarters of the European Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
, which is the executive of the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
(EU). The structure is located at Schuman roundabout
Schuman roundabout
Schuman Roundabout , or Schuman Square, is a roundabout at the end of Rue de la Loi in Brussels that serves as a focus for major institutions of the European Union ....
at 200 Rue de la Loi, in what is known as the "European district".
Usage
The building has housed the European CommissionEuropean Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
since its construction, and has become a symbol of the Commission (its name becoming a metonymy
Metonymy
Metonymy is a figure of speech used in rhetoric in which a thing or concept is not called by its own name, but by the name of something intimately associated with that thing or concept...
for the Commission) and the European presence in Brussels. The Commission itself is spread over some 60 odd buildings, but the Berlaymont is the institution's headquarters, being the seat of the President of the European Commission
President of the European Commission
The President of the European Commission is the head of the European Commission ― the executive branch of the :European Union ― the most powerful officeholder in the EU. The President is responsible for allocating portfolios to members of the Commission and can reshuffle or dismiss them if needed...
and its College of Commissioners
European Commissioner
A European Commissioner is a member of the 27-member European Commission. Each Member within the college holds a specific portfolio and are led by the President of the European Commission...
.
The following Directorates-General (departments) are also based in the Berlaymont: Personnel and Administration
Directorate-General for Personnel and Administration (European Commission)
The Directorate-General for Personnel and Administration is a Directorate-General of the European Commission.The essential mission of the Directorate-General is to ensure the European Commission runs smoothly by laying down its policies on human resources and security.-Human Resources:*Career...
(ADMIN), Bureau of European Policy Advisers
Bureau of European Policy Advisers (European Commission)
The Bureau of European Policy Advisers is a Directorate-General of the European Commission.The Bureau of European Policy Advisers is a department of the European Commission, reporting directly to the President of the European Commission and under his authority...
(BEPA), Communication
Directorate-General Communication (European Commission)
The Directorate-General Communication is a Directorate-General of the European Commission.The mission of the DG Communication is:* To inform the media and citizens of the activities of the European Commission and to communicate the objectives and goals of its policies and actions.* To inform the...
(COMM), Brussels Office of Infrastructure and Logistics (OIB), Secretariat-General
Secretariat-General of the European Commission
The Secretariat-General of the European Commission is a Directorate-General of the European Commission. The DG Secretariat-General is based in the Berlaymont in Brussels . The DG Secretariat-General supports the whole of the Commission, and in particular the 27 Commissioners...
(SG) and the Legal Service
Directorate-General for Legal Service (European Commission)
The Directorate-General for Legal Service is a Directorate-General of the European Commission.The Legal Service provides comprehensive in-house assistance to the European Commission and all its departments. Its resources have to be deployed to cover all Commission activities and areas of...
(SJ).
The office of the President and the Commission boardroom are on the 13th floor (occupied by the President in defiance of superstition surrounding the number), together with the meeting room of the Hebdo and the restaurant La Convivialité.
Background
With the number of European civil servantsEuropean Civil Service
The European Civil Service is the civil service serving the institutions of the European Union, of which the largest employer is the European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union...
rapidly growing since their arrival in Brussels in 1958, the European Commission
European Commission
The European Commission is the executive body of the European Union. The body is responsible for proposing legislation, implementing decisions, upholding the Union's treaties and the general day-to-day running of the Union....
required more and more office space across the city. By 1965, the Commission alone had 3,200 staff scattered across 8 different cramped buildings. The situation, which started as soon as they arrived due to the lack of large office blocks, became critical and the Commission tried to concentrate its staff in a number of rented buildings around Schuman roundabout
Schuman roundabout
Schuman Roundabout , or Schuman Square, is a roundabout at the end of Rue de la Loi in Brussels that serves as a focus for major institutions of the European Union ....
. The Belgian government, becoming aware of the problem and keen to ensure that the Commission stayed, offered to build a prestigious administration complex large enough to house the entire staff. President
President of the European Commission
The President of the European Commission is the head of the European Commission ― the executive branch of the :European Union ― the most powerful officeholder in the EU. The President is responsible for allocating portfolios to members of the Commission and can reshuffle or dismiss them if needed...
Walter Hallstein
Walter Hallstein
Walter Hallstein was a German politician and professor.He was one of the key figures of European integration after World War II, becoming the first President of the Commission of the European Economic Community, serving from 1958 to 1967. He famously defined his position as "a kind of Prime...
was interested but cautious about making long-term commitments while the issue of where the institutions were based was still being discussed. However, the need for office space was overwhelming.
The Belgian government's proposal required sufficient land which would preferably be in the Leopold Quarter
Leopold Quarter
The Leopold Quarter is a quarter of Brussels, Belgium. Today the term is sometimes confused with European Quarter, as the area has come to be dominated by the institutions of the European Union and organisations dealing with them, although the two terms are not in fact the same, with the Leopold...
(where they were already based) and near the homes of the civil servants to the south and east. The land chosen was then occupied by the Dames de Berlaymont, a 300 year old convent
Convent
A convent is either a community of priests, religious brothers, religious sisters, or nuns, or the building used by the community, particularly in the Roman Catholic Church and in the Anglican Communion...
which managed a venerable girls' school. The convent and school moved to a larger and quieter site out of the city centre in Waterloo
Waterloo, Belgium
Waterloo is a Walloon municipality located in the province of Walloon Brabant, Belgium. On December 31, 2009, Waterloo had a total population of 29,573. The total area is 21.03 km² which gives a population density of 1,407 inhabitants per km²...
. Once the Belgian state finished their new school and built infrastructure to it, the Dames de Berlaymont handed the site, which they had been under pressure to sell to developers for years, to the Belgian government in November 1963.
To organise what was needed, the Belgian Foreign Minister
Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs
-1800s:-1900s:-2000s:...
Pierre Wigny suggested a "Commission consultative Berlaymont", where the Commission, the Belgian Public Works Ministry, the contractor
General contractor
A general contractor is responsible for the day-to-day oversight of a construction site, management of vendors and trades, and communication of information to involved parties throughout the course of a building project.-Description:...
s and the architects could draw up the plans. However, the Belgian state desired a building not just tailored to the Commission, but something that could be used by its own civil servants were the Commission to leave. This was also why they favoured a central office building rather than the project for the construction of a "European city" on the Etterbeek
Etterbeek
Etterbeek is one of the nineteen municipalities located in the Brussels-Capital Region of Belgium. It neighbours the municipalities of the City of Brussels, Ixelles, Auderghem, Woluwe-Saint-Pierre, Woluwe-Saint-Lambert and Schaerbeek....
. Due to the plans not meeting their exact desires, the Commission gained a lower rent.
Construction
The work was planned so that as soon as each wing was complete, staff could move in while the rest of the building was still under construction. The north and east wings were to be completed first (estimated for August 1961 though that proved optimistic). The south would take longer given the need to demolish more buildings including the girls school, with the Dames du Berlaymont unable to vacate until 1963. The Belgian government, realising that budgetary constraints meant it could not meet any of the deadlines, resorted to outside funding from the Office de sécurité sociale d'Outre-mer (OSSOM). OSSOM would own the land but the building would be constructed and rented by the Belgian government with rent deducted from its contribution to OSSOM's budget. Eventually it would buy it in 1985 through regular instalments while it was being sublet to the Commission. OSSOM awarded the construction contract to an association of entrepreneurs: Enterprises François et Fils with Compagnie belge des Chemins de fer et d'entreprises, Compagnie industrielle de travaux and Armand Blaton. The lack of a public tender was criticised by the Belgian audit office.In 1963, the first wing (north east) entered its active phase and was scheduled to be finished by the end of 1965. Concreting on that wing was finished in November 1964, completion was pushed back from the start of 1966 by a year due to the rail companies failing to vault the nearby railway line that prevented access to the ground floor. The wing was completed on 1 February 1967, with the first civil servants moving in three months later. The three month gap was due to disagreements about the conditions of the lease. The Belgian state was to lease the whole building to the Commission starting from when the work was finished, however the other member states
Member State of the European Union
A member state of the European Union is a state that is party to treaties of the European Union and has thereby undertaken the privileges and obligations that EU membership entails. Unlike membership of an international organisation, being an EU member state places a country under binding laws in...
found the cost excessive and wanted to explore other options, gaining a lease for the one and only completed wing instead. The lease came into effect on 1 May 1967 and cost €545,366 (the whole building would be €4.82 million, a reduction of €2.48 million taking into account construction costs). The building was only fully occupied at the beginning of September of that year.
Expansion
However, from the start of the project, it was clear that the Commission would expand beyond the capacity of the Berlaymont. The Charlemagne buildingCharlemagne building
The Charlemagne building is a high-rise in the European Quarter of Brussels , which houses the Directorate-General for Trade and the Directorate General for Enlargement of the European Commission....
became available for the Commission. Furthermore, there was a building on Rue Archimède, this would allow the Commission to concentrate itself in these buildings around Schuman roundabout and vacate the outer office complex. The cost of this deterred the Council from approving the plan, seeing the rent being driven too high.
The Commission also wanted to occupy the whole of the Berlaymont, which it shared with the Council and Parliament. The public most associated the Commission with the building and it was seen as a matter of pride that they occupy the entire building. Doing so would give them more room and if they occupied that with the Joyeuse Entrée building which it had before, they would have enough space and the Charlemagne building could be occupied entirely by the Council. This would mean they could communicate well but not have to work in the same building. The Council eventually agreed but moved into a different building on the roundabout.
Renovation
Renovation of the building became the responsibility of the Belgian state when it bought the Berlaymont from OSSOM in 1985, but put off any work due to budgetary constraints. The Commission complained and Belgium offered to sell the building to them at a reduced rate (the rent was already half) but as the political question of a permanent seat had not been decided the Commission was not in a position to buy. Renovation suddenly became an important issue when flaked asbestosAsbestos
Asbestos is a set of six naturally occurring silicate minerals used commercially for their desirable physical properties. They all have in common their eponymous, asbestiform habit: long, thin fibrous crystals...
was found in the building in 1990. The civil servants' trade unions put on the pressure and the issue was used as a pretext for a full renovation as the facilities had become outdated and were not able to cope with the influx of new members
Enlargement of the European Union
The Enlargement of the European Union is the process of expanding the European Union through the accession of new member states. This process began with the Inner Six, who founded the European Coal and Steel Community in 1952...
.
Demolition was not an option as the foundations anchored the local road and metro networks, which would be put in danger if the Berlaymont were to be destroyed. However it was hard to establish a full renovation budget due to budgetary constraints of the Belgian government. Hence, it was decided to bring in private sector financial institutions in the form of a management and renovation company: SA Berlaymont 2000 (in which the Belgian state remained a major shareholder). Berlaymont 2000 would pay €74.3 million to the Belgian state (also acting as a guarantor) and provide €160 million for the work, and in exchange it would gain a long lease on the building. Seeing it as a profitable investment, the following companies joined Berlaymont 2000: Citilease (affiliate of Citybank), CGER
Fortis (finance)
Fortis N.V./S.A. was a company active in insurance, banking and investment management. In 2007 it was the 20th largest business in the world by revenue but after encountering severe problems in the financial crisis of 2008, most of the company was sold in parts, with only insurance activities...
and BACOB
Dexia
Dexia N.V./S.A., also referred to as the Dexia Group, is a Belgian-French financial institution active in public finance, providing retail and commercial banking services to individuals and SMEs, asset management, and insurance...
. They began to provide finance and the Commission's rent went up considerably to cover costs. The project was scheduled to start in 1994 and to take five years.
At the end of 1991, the Commissioners
European Commissioner
A European Commissioner is a member of the 27-member European Commission. Each Member within the college holds a specific portfolio and are led by the President of the European Commission...
and their cabinets
Cabinet (European Commission)
In the European Commission, a cabinet is the personal office of a European Commissioner. The role of a cabinet is to give political guidance to its Commissioner, while technical preparation is handled by the DGs .-Composition:The Commissioner's cabinets are seen as the real concentration of power...
moved to the rapidly completed Breydel building
Breydel building
The Breydel building is an office block in the European Quarter of Brussels that served as a temporary headquarters for the European Commission between 1991 and 2004....
while other departments moved out to buildings across the quarter and the wider capital: Auderghem
Auderghem
Auderghem or Oudergem is one of the nineteen municipalities located in the Brussels-Capital Region of Belgium....
, Evere
Evere
Evere is one of the nineteen municipalities located in the Brussels-Capital Region of Belgium. On January 1, 2006 the municipality had a total population of 33,462...
and Etterbeek
Etterbeek
Etterbeek is one of the nineteen municipalities located in the Brussels-Capital Region of Belgium. It neighbours the municipalities of the City of Brussels, Ixelles, Auderghem, Woluwe-Saint-Pierre, Woluwe-Saint-Lambert and Schaerbeek....
. In total, 11 buildings costing €14.8 million a year to the Belgian state: in return the Commission kept paying the Berlaymont rent while it was vacated. However, the project began to face setbacks which tarnished Belgium's image as it failed to decide working arrangements which put back preliminary studies until Berlaymont 2000 took over in 1996 and set up a team to carry out the necessary studies. The Commission then stalled, doubting that the proposed plans would sufficiently adapt the Berlaymont to its new needs. Eventually, the plans were adapted enough for the Commission not only to accept them and return to the Berlaymont but to pay the renovation costs, signing a long lease in 1997 with an option to purchase.
Work on removing the asbestos began in the summer of 1995, three and a half years after the building was vacated. Work was expected to finish in February 1997, however inefficient organisation led to delay after delay: rumours about air pollution and violation of standards, electricity failures and asbestos outside the screen brought work to a halt. Longer time frames and more capital were demanded to complete the work. Outside management was brought in with asbestos removal being completed in 1999. Renovation work started on 1 June 1999 with work on full modernisation of the building, including better natural light flows and construction was expected to be finished by the end of 2001 according to optimistic forecasts. However once more there were further delays from the subcontractors, Berlaymont 2000 and SNCB who were constructing a railway link below the building. Completion date was pushed back each year until it reached mid-2004.
Despite further considerable delays and legal battles, the building was handed over to the Commission in stages, starting from 1 July 2004 with civil servants moving back just before the start of the Barroso Commission
Barroso Commission
The Barroso Commission is the European Commission that has been in office since 22 November 2004 and is due to serve until 2014. Its president is José Manuel Barroso, who presides over 26 other commissioners...
, with their related cabinets and a total of 2,700 civil servants. In total, renovation took 13 years, five years longer than it took to build. The December 1998 handover date was delayed five times and the bill to the Belgian state for the poor planning and disagreements amounted, by some estimates, to €824 million.
May 2009 Fire
On 18 May 2009 at approximately 1100GMT the Berlaymont building was evacuated following a fire which started in the press room. There are no reported casualties.The building was again evacuated on 27 May 2009 when the alarm was set off.
Architecture
The building, under the provisional name "Centre Administratif Europe", was designed by Lucien de VestelLucien de Vestel
Lucien de Vestel was a Belgian architect known for designing the Berlaymont in Brussels.He was a modernist who did a lot of work in the interwar period in rebuilding housing and apartment blocks were great expertise was needed for textures and colours...
, in association with Jean Gilson (Groupe Alpha), André & Jean Polak and with the recommendations of the engineer Joris Schmidt. It was directly inspired by the 1958 secretariat building of UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
in Paris (which was designed by Marcel Breuer
Marcel Breuer
Marcel Lajos Breuer , was a Hungarian-born modernist, architect and furniture designer of Jewish descent. One of the masters of Modernism, Breuer displayed interest in modular construction and simple forms.- Life and work :Known to his friends and associates as Lajkó, Breuer studied and taught at...
, Pier Luigi Nervi
Pier Luigi Nervi
Pier Luigi Nervi was an Italian engineer. He studied at the University of Bologna and qualified in 1913. Dr. Nervi taught as a professor of engineering at Rome University from 1946-61...
and Bernard Zehrfuss
Bernard Zehrfuss
Bernard Louis Zehrfuss was a French architect.-Life:From a family that had fled from the Alsace in 1870 after the Franco-Prussian War, Zehrfuss's father was killed in the First Battle of the Marne in 1914...
). The technical design was ground breaking at the time and generated an enthusiastic response from one particular Brussels journal: "This design concept reflects both the 20th century innovative spirit and sheer audacity and brings to mind the astonishing civil engineering arrow at the 1958 exhibition
Expo '58
Expo 58, also known as the Brussels World’s Fair, Brusselse Wereldtentoonstelling or Exposition Universelle et Internationale de Bruxelles, was held from 17 April to 19 October 1958...
." – Présences magazine.
The building has a cruciform
Cruciform
Cruciform means having the shape of a cross or Christian cross.- Cruciform architectural plan :This is a common description of Christian churches. In Early Christian, Byzantine and other Eastern Orthodox forms of church architecture this is more likely to mean a tetraconch plan, a Greek cross,...
design with four wings of unequal size spanning from a central core. It was built on piles located beneath each wing, supporting a 40 metre high narrow ridge of concrete which in turn supported steel beams forming the frame of the glass façade covering the prefabricated floors. The top, 13th, floor however was supported directly by the upper beams, suspended entirely by them making the lower level free standing except for the core. The design is intended to convey a feeling of light and transparency. It further includes decorative details such as sculptures and frescos to prevent it from becoming monotonous.
The complex was initially designed to house 3000 civil servants and 1600 cars in a four-level underground car park under the whole complex. Foundations run to 20 metres deep, the number of lower levels (which link to the road tunnels and metro) was due to the 55 metre height restriction around the Cinquantenaire (so as not to spoil the view) It also included seventeen flexible conference rooms which could be used by the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...
and Council of Ministers
Council of the European Union
The Council of the European Union is the institution in the legislature of the European Union representing the executives of member states, the other legislative body being the European Parliament. The Council is composed of twenty-seven national ministers...
. There were a further nine Commission meeting rooms on the upper floors. Free space outside was converted into public gardens and terraces.
Post-renovation, the structure has not changed except for a press extension, but there have been a number of internal and landscape changes. Traffic flow has been improved, but underground parking has been reduced by 25% and surface parking has been almost entirely converted into a pedestrian mall which flows into the surrounding urban landscape. Security has also been improved, and a lighting well provides natural light to the restaurant and multimedia centres. The helipad was replaced by a cupola which houses the commission's meeting room, looking out over Schuman roundabout. The building also meets the strictest environmental standards reusing light, power and heat throughout the building.
The façade was replaced with a curtain wall with mobile glass screens that adapt to weather conditions and reduce glare while still allowing light in. They also act as a sound barrier, reducing noise from the rue de la Loi. The windows cut off the air conditioning when opened to prevent energy being wasted. Offices, which are now larger, can have their heating adjusted automatically or individually and it is automatically turned off when the room is unoccupied.
The building now has 240,000 m² of floor space on 18 levels, connected by 42 lifts and 12 escalators. Offices for 3,000 officials and meeting rooms are in the tower. Restaurant and services, a 900 seat cafeteria
Cafeteria
A cafeteria is a type of food service location in which there is little or no waiting staff table service, whether a restaurant or within an institution such as a large office building or school; a school dining location is also referred to as a dining hall or canteen...
, TV studio, conference rooms, storage rooms, Nordic sauna
Sauna
A sauna is a small room or house designed as a place to experience dry or wet heat sessions, or an establishment with one or more of these and auxiliary facilities....
, car parking for over 1,100 vehicles and various services occupy the basement. Architects Pierre Lallemand, Steven Beckers and Wilfried Van Campenhout carried out the 1991–2004 renovation
Renovation
Renovation is the process of improving a structure. Two prominent types of renovations are commercial and residential.-Process:The process of a renovation, however complex, can usually be broken down into several processes...
.
In popular culture
- The building briefly appeared in the 2006 film, "Children of MenChildren of MenChildren of Men is a 2006 science fiction film loosely adapted from P. D. James's 1992 novel The Children of Men, directed by Alfonso Cuarón. In 2027, two decades of human infertility have left society on the brink of collapse. Illegal immigrants seek sanctuary in England, where the last...
", shown along with buildings in other cities that had been subject to attacks. - Berlaymont appears in the sequel to NRK's drama mini-series "Kodenavn Hunter".