EPB / European Parliament Building

 

The Proposal
The current SPAAK building has numerous shortcomings. However demolishing it and replacing it with a new ‘palace’ might be the wrong approach.
In the building sector, over 50% of the carbon footprint generated happens in constructing the raw structure of a building. If fully dismantled, all that expense is lost and needs to be spent again in a new construction. Here, the strategy should be to rigorously re-use most of the SPAAK structure, its carbon expense. Furthermore, the design strategy offers to significantly improve the Parliament’s working conditions and catalyze the potential for communication and exchange with European citizens while keeping as much of the existing structure as possible.

Connection to the City
On an urban scale, the design by EUROPARC aims to strengthen the linkage between the building and the city. By opening up the block, it enhances the continuity of pedestrian flows in the area. The public realm is expanded both inside and outside the architecture, creating a more welcoming experience for the citizens and visitors of Brussels. The building should not be impenetrable, but should be a place of openness. Therefore, a public passage could be created through the Parliament. In a natural and intuitive way the passage will provide a grand entrance to visitors of the Parliament and establish an actual node in the pedestrian network of Brussels.

The Hemicycle
The new assembly chamber of the European Parliament, called the Hemicycle, will be repositioned on the upper levels of the renewed building to meet the spatial requirements for a modernized chamber. It will be equipped with digital amenities that help spread the discourse of democracy beyond physical confines. The room is extensively integrated with the Parliament’s digital platform to enhance transparency and encourage external participation. Another primary feature is the large windows which establish a visual dialogue between the Parliament, the rooftop garden, as well as the city and European citizens at large. One of these large windows can also become a screen to transmit information in real time during assemblies.

The Green Agora
Located on the highest floor, the Green Agora is the culmination of the public visitors’ journey in the building. The botanical garden draws inspiration from the “agora” in Ancient Greece – it literally means “gathering place” and facilitated the circulation of ideas among people at the time. Not only visually connected to the Hemicycle through the latter’s open ceiling, the Green Agora will also serve as the beacon of European democracy, where citizens and the Members of the European Parliament meet and exchange thoughts. In addition, the spirit of pan-European synergy is reinforced in natural terms, as the park brings together vegetation indigenous to all the member states to form a multifaceted European ecosystem.
All in all, the new SPAAK building by EUROPARC – with the permeable ground floor, the Hemicycle, the Green Agora and beyond – creates a civic ecosystem that places people at the center of the spatial experience and brings them closer to the democratic processes of Europe. It is a unique piece of infrastructure that gives the Members of the European Parliament the space to carry out their parliamentary missions and citizens access to a site of significant political and social value to enrich their everyday life.