A2RC Architects - SQUARE - Brussels Meeting Centre

Tuesday, 17 November 2009 08:51

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An architectural proposition to the city offers a newfound visibility to the former “Palais des Congrès” by means of a poetic emblem embodied in the glass cube that forms the principal entry to SQUARE, Brussels Meeting Centre.

Its treelike structure and an aesthetic based on transparency and light, irresistibly evokes landscape architecture, takes root in history and projects the « Mont des Arts » into modernity. This monumentality, mild and poetic, dialogs with the image of the garden. Present and at the same time melting into the surrounding architectural landscape, it changes in materiality as the light and time of day change.

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Ground Floor Plan
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Longitudinal Sction

The entry, in the form of a large exterior auditorium, allows an entry to the base of the cube, sliding along the exposition hall under René Pechère’s renovated historic garden. A terrace leads to the upper access situated on the « Esplanade du Mont des Arts ».
a2rc_CGR_11 a2rc_CGR_04 The carefully articulated cube contains ribbon shaped suspended stairs and catwalks that connect the different access levels to the complex of 50,000m2 that optimally exploits the complex existing structure and succeeds in the challenge of increasing the capacity and the efficiency of the whole.

Square now offers 27 meeting rooms of 40 to 1,200 for a total capacity of 3,538, an exposition zone of 3,670m2 divisible in two distinct entities with a free ceiling height of 6m, a restaurant, and a « brasserie » of 420 places.

The reorganisation fully exploits natural light in a building where the majority of spaces are underground. The meeting centre also benefits from the presence of prestigious works of art that decorate the foyers and position colours, which create an ambiance specific to the site.
a2rc_CGR_06 a2rc_CGR_07 a2rc_CGR_08 Square therefore constitutes an attractive technological jewel at the heart of the « Quartier des Arts » and consumes the transformation of an important historic site by respect for it’s history and ambition for it’s future.

The poetic emblem of the cube becomes the urban symbol of a new site of communication with the world.
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Project description and credits:

Site: Brussels, Belgium
Owner: Palais des Congrès sa and SPF
Architect: A2RC ARCHITECTS
Artist : Arne Quinze
Competition: 2000
Project: 2002 – 2006
Construction: 2006 – 2009
Surface: 52,000 m2
Budget: 60,000,000 €