Herman Teirlinckgebouw

A new Flemish government office building now stands on a prominent site along Havenlaan in Brussels. It houses 2,600 civil servants in compliance with the new working principles. The Herman Teirlinck building is six storeys high and, as a result, corresponds to the surrounding nineteenth-century industrial buildings on the Thurn & Taxis site. Its robust volume is enriched with a modest and relatively broad 60m tower that claims its place in the Brussels skyline. Flexibility and sustainability are the key notions for understanding the building. It is not only compact but made partly of recycled materials, incorporates the latest passive building techniques and is adaptable to future forms of working practices. A covered indoor street also makes it accessible to the neighbourhood. This public axis structures the whole complex and links the communal amenities such as the restaurant, reception areas, auditoria, exhibition space and meeting centres. The offices are grouped round four winter gardens that offer an agreeable view and natural light. Neutelings Riedijk Architects devoted much thought to the tactility of the façade cladding and the integration of contemporary art, which are two constants in their oeuvre. As a result, the spatial and visual experience is rich and varied, with a variety of green resting places. This building does many things at the same time: it gives the Flemish government a public face, it contributes to the development of a green urban district in the heart of Brussels and offers a new interpretation of large-scale office buildings.

Sofie De Caigny

This project is published in Flanders Architectural Review N°13. This Is a Mustard Factory