The Lex building is a high-rise of government offices in the European Quarter of

Brussels Brussels (french: Bruxelles or ; nl, Brussel ), officially the Brussels-Capital Region (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) (french: link=no, Région de Bruxelles-Capitale; nl, link=no, Bruss ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

. It is an annex building of the

Council of the European Union The Council of the European Union, often referred to in the treaties and other official documents simply as the Council, and informally known as the Council of Ministers, is the third of the seven Institutions of the European Union (EU) as ...

(its main building is the

Europa building The Europa building is the seat of the European Council and Council of the European Union, located on the Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat in the European Quarter of Brussels, Belgium. Its defining feature is the multi-storey "lantern-shaped" constr ...

) and is located at Rue de la Loi/Wetstraat 145.

History

Work began in 2001, with construction starting in 2004 when the old building was demolished. It was finished in 2006. The building was built and is owned by the Lex 2000 company, with the Council having long term rent on the building and the option to buy. Due to the increase in office space, Lex 2000 has had to finance renovation of nearby apartments to compensate. It is built on the site of a private mansion, similar to the neighbouring Résidence Palace which was demolished instead of renovated in order to create a much larger modern building. Extra space for the

EU institutions The institutions of the European Union are the seven principal decision-making bodies of the European Union and the Euratom. They are, as listed in Article 13 of the Treaty on European Union: * the European Parliament, * the European Council ...

were needed in time for the 2004 enlargement of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational union, supranational political union, political and economic union of Member state of the European Union, member states that are located primarily in Europe, Europe. The union has a total area of ...

. At the time, the existing building, Justus Lipsius, could not be extended due to residential areas and the then existing conservation orders on the adjacent Résidence Palace (later partially demolished and renovated to become the

), thus Lex became a new project to satisfy the need for more office space. Lex South

The first plans were submitted in 1988 by the company which built

Espace Léopold The Espace Léopold (French; commonly used in English) or Leopoldruimte (Dutch; ) is the complex of parliament buildings in Brussels, Belgium, housing the European Parliament, a legislative chamber of the European Union (EU). It consists of a ...

, however they were deemed too ambitious by the local authorities. It was intended to be tall, serving as a gateway into the area together with the

Charlemagne building The Charlemagne building is a high-rise in the European Quarter of Brussels, which houses the Directorate-General for Economic and Financial Affairs, the Directorate-General for Trade and, since 2015, the Internal Audit Service of the Commissio ...

opposite. The authorities demanded a reduction of 20 metres, giving it 15 floors instead of the planned 20, in order to preserve the visual dominance of the

Berlaymont building The Berlaymont () is an office building in Brussels, Belgium, which houses the headquarters of the European Commission, the executive branch of the European Union (EU). The structure is located on the Robert Schuman Roundabout at 200, rue de ...

and the

Cinquantenaire The Parc du Cinquantenaire (French for "Park of the Fiftieth Anniversary", pronounced ) or Jubelpark ( Dutch for "Jubilee Park", pronounced ) is a large public, urban park of in the easternmost part of the European Quarter in Brussels, Belg ...

arcades.

Features

There are three basement floors for technical services - though the

car park A parking lot (American English) or car park (British English), also known as a car lot, is a cleared area intended for parking vehicles. The term usually refers to an area dedicated only for parking, with a durable or semi-durable surface ...

was built with less than 200 spaces as it was deemed the

public transport Public transport (also known as public transportation, public transit, mass transit, or simply transit) is a system of transport for passengers by group travel systems available for use by the general public unlike private transport, typi ...

links compensated for lack of car parking spaces. The main entrance has direct links to the metro and rail stations with the ground floor being occupied by a large restaurant. The building's glass structure is intended to convey transparency, with two floors being cleared to give a more open feel inside.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lex Building European quarter of Brussels Council of the European Union Buildings and structures of the European Union

History

Features

See also

References