Square - Brussels Meeting Centre / A2RC Architects

Square - Brussels Meeting Centre / A2RC Architects

Square - Brussels Meeting Centre / A2RC Architects - Windows, FacadeSquare - Brussels Meeting Centre / A2RC Architects - WindowsSquare - Brussels Meeting Centre / A2RC Architects - HandrailSquare - Brussels Meeting Centre / A2RC Architects - ColumnSquare - Brussels Meeting Centre / A2RC Architects - More Images+ 10

  • Architects: A2RC Architects
  • Area Area of this architecture project Area:  52000
  • Year Completion year of this architecture project Year:  2006

Text description provided by the architects. An audacious 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.

Square - Brussels Meeting Centre / A2RC Architects - Windows, Facade
Courtesy of A2RC Architects

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. 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 ».

Square - Brussels Meeting Centre / A2RC Architects - Facade, Glass
Courtesy of A2RC Architects

The carefully articulated cube contains ribbon shaped suspended stairs and catwalks that connect the different access levels to the complex of 50,000 sqm 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 3,670 sqm divisible in two distinct entities with a free ceiling height of 6m, a restaurant, and a « brasserie » of 420 places.

Square - Brussels Meeting Centre / A2RC Architects - Windows, Handrail, Steel, Beam
Courtesy of A2RC Architects

The reorganization 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.

Square - Brussels Meeting Centre / A2RC Architects - Image 13 of 15
Courtesy of A2RC Architects

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.

Square - Brussels Meeting Centre / A2RC Architects - Chair
Courtesy of A2RC Architects

The poetic emblem of the cube becomes the urban symbol of a new site of communication with the world.

Square - Brussels Meeting Centre / A2RC Architects - Stairs, Column, Handrail
Courtesy of A2RC Architects

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Project location

Address:Brussels, Belgium

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Location to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.
About this office
Cite: "Square - Brussels Meeting Centre / A2RC Architects" 01 Nov 2009. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/37007/square-brussels-meeting-centre-a2rc-architects> ISSN 0719-8884

Courtesy of A2RC Architects

方体 - Brussels 会议中心 / A2RC Architects

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