Competition

The European Commission is constantly seeking to increase efficiency, save money and reduce its environmental footprint. With this in mind, and in line with the ambitions of the Brussels Region, it is seeking to replace some of its ageing buildings with modern, eco-friendly offices.

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To this end, the Commission is launching an international architectural competition to identify the best design proposals for its most important current real estate project in Brussels – the redevelopment of its premises at rue de la Loi 130 (hence the competition name, Loi 130).

The competition invites teams composed of architects, landscape architects, building services engineers and structural engineers from around the world to come forward with forward-looking, innovative, sustainable and cost-efficient proposals for the project.

With a total gross floor area of between 175,000 and 190,000 m², the new inner city complex will include offices for at least 5,250 people, 2 childcare centres, a visitor centre that can welcome 345,000 people a year, 3,000 square meters of restaurants and shops and public spaces with green areas. The project will also include a new entrance to Maelbeek metro station, and the whole complex will have the highest possible level of security.

Location of the site inside the Brussels Region © [phase eins]

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Location of the site in the European quarter © [phase eins]

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Procedure

The Loi 130 architectural competition, supported by the International Union of Architects (UIA), is open to applicants from any EU country, as well as non-member countries that have access to EU procurement procedures.

The competition is a restricted two phase competition. We welcome applications from teams of architects, structural engineers, building services engineers and landscape architects. Applicants will be asked to provide, among others, evidence of professional qualification and/or admission to the profession, as well as 5 project references.

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Phase 1 — 30 teams will be selected and will be invited to present an initial outline design concept. Based on each entry’s merit, the jury will select a maximum of 10 candidates from phase 1 for participation in phase 2.

Phase 2 — The candidates admitted to phase 2 will be invited to submit a more detailed design concept for the project. The jury will award three prizes for the best design concepts (€ 120 000, € 100 000 and € 80 000). All participating projects will be publicly exhibited in September 2019.

Full details on how to apply were published in the Official Journal of the EU.

Calendar

Jury

The jury has 11 voting members.

General Jurors:
- Guenther H. Oettinger, Chairperson, Member of the European Commission
- Rudi Vervoort, Minister-President of the Brussels-Capital Region
- Irene Souka, Director-General Human Resources and Security, European Commission
- Vladimir Sucha, Director-General Joint Research Centre, European Commission
- Marc Mouligneau, Director of the Office for Infrastructure and Logistics Brussels and acting Head of the Real Estate Department, European Commission

Architectural Jurors:
- Peter Benuska, Master Architect of the European Commission
- Kristiaan Borret, Master Architect of the Brussels-Capital Region
- Brian Cody, Engineer (Ireland)
- Dominique Lyon, Deputy Vice-Chairperson, Architect (France)
- Monica von Schmalensee, Vice-Chairperson, Architect (Sweden)
- Benedetta Tagliabue, Architect (Italy)

Deputy General Jurors:
- Maive Rute, Deputy Director-General Joint Research Centre, European Commission
- Bernard Magenhann, Deputy Director-General Human Resources and Security, European Commission
- Michael Hager, Deputy Chairperson, Head of Cabinet of Commissioner Oettinger
- Alain Hutchinson, Brussels Commissioner for Europe and International Organisations
- Marc Séguinot, Head of Unit for Domain leadership and strategic planning in the Office for Infrastructure and Logistics Brussels, European Commission

Deputy Architectural Jurors:
- Olivier Bastin, Architect (Belgium)
- Paul van Bergen, Engineer (Netherlands)
- Almut Gruentuch-Ernst, Architect (Germany)