Berlaymont building, Government building in European Quarter, Brussels, Belgium
The Berlaymont is a cruciform office building at 200 rue de la Loi, with four wings of unequal size extending from a central core. Its design by Lucien De Vestel, with Jean Gilson and André and Jean Polak, was inspired by the 1958 UNESCO secretariat in Paris. The 13th floor is suspended from steel beams above a glass façade, and the building is clad in grey horizontal louvers with a central orange-panelled section.
The Belgian state bought the two-hectare convent site on 25 May 1960 and built the Berlaymont from 1963 to 1967 to designs by Lucien De Vestel, with Jean Gilson and André and Jean Polak. The first wing opened on 1 February 1967. Asbestos forced closure in 1992; after renovation it reopened on 21 October 2004, and the Commission bought the building that year.
The building serves as the headquarters of the European Commission and represents the center where major European Union decisions are made. Daily work here shapes policies that affect all member states.
Located in the heart of Brussels's administrative quarter, the building is well-served by public transport connections. Note that this is an active workplace, so access and tours require advance arrangements and security procedures.
The building was closed in 1992 because of asbestos and reopened on 21 October 2004, with Romano Prodi and Guy Verhofstadt present. The European Commission bought it that same year; until then it had belonged to the Belgian state. The 13th floor holds the president's office and the Hebdo meeting room.
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