Square – Brussels Convention Centre (previously Square – Brussels Meeting Centre) is the name of a convention centre in

Brussels Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. It is run by the GL Events group and situated in cultural and historic district of Brussels near the national and international institutions, overlooking the city from the hillside of the

Mont des Arts The (French language, French, ) or (Dutch language, Dutch, ), meaning "Hill/Mount of the Arts", is an urban complex and historic site in central Brussels, Belgium, including the Royal Library of Belgium (KBR), the National Archives of Belgium ...

History

Square – Brussels Convention Centre is housed in the former Palace of Congress, which was designed by Jules Ghobert and Maurice Hoyoux and built in 1958 for the

World's fair A world's fair, also known as a universal exhibition, is a large global exhibition designed to showcase the achievements of nations. These exhibitions vary in character and are held in different parts of the world at a specific site for a perio ...

. Managed at the time by the National Congresses Service, the Palace of Congress consisted of several subterranean spaces, including 1,200-seat and 300-seat auditoria, plus rudimentary

exhibition An exhibition, in the most general sense, is an organized presentation and display of a selection of items. In practice, exhibitions usually occur within a cultural or educational setting such as a museum, art gallery, park, library, exhibiti ...

spaces. Although upgraded both technologically and aesthetically in 1978, the infrastructure of the Palace aged through the 1980s and 1990s. Several financial difficulties, together with the discovery of

asbestos Asbestos ( ) is a group of naturally occurring, Toxicity, toxic, carcinogenic and fibrous silicate minerals. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous Crystal habit, crystals, each fibre (particulate with length su ...

, eventually closed the Palace’s doors in 2003. In late 2004, the management of the centre was transferred to the newly created Palais des Congrès plc. By July 2005, the company’s business and renovation plans were drawn up and approved, and funds were released. During two and half years, the Palace was thoroughly refurbished and expanded. The Palais des Congrès plc finalised an agreement for the management of SQUARE with the

GL events GL, Gl, or gl may refer to: Businesses and brands * Air Greenland, IATA airline designator * , a classification society Government and military * GreenLeft, a Dutch political party * Gwardia Ludowa, a Polish resistance group during World ...

group. The Square – Brussels Meeting Centre opened its doors on 20 September 2009 at 20:09 with a public party.

Today

Square – Brussels Convention Centre’s landmark feature is the three-story, 16-metre tall glass cube that forms the main entry to the premises. The cube has a treelike structure and the overall aesthetic is based on transparency and light. A terrace leads to the upper access situated on the

. Designed by Brussels architectural firm A.2R.C., Square – Brussels Meeting Centre has 27 meeting rooms of 40 to 1,200 for a total capacity of 7,000 attendees, and an exposition zone of 4,000 sqm. Its technological capacities have been updated: an integrated optic fiber infrastructure make web streaming possible anywhere in the venue, without undermining sound or image quality. Works of art decorate the foyers of the meeting centre. Many of the original features, including expansive murals by

Paul Delvaux Paul Delvaux (; 23 September 1897 – 20 July 1994) was a Belgian painter noted for his dream-like scenes of women, classical architecture, trains and train stations, and skeletons, often in combination. He is often considered a surrealist, alt ...

René Magritte René François Ghislain Magritte (; 21 November 1898 – 15 August 1967) was a Belgium, Belgian surrealist artist known for his depictions of familiar objects in unfamiliar, unexpected contexts, which often provoked questions about the nature ...

and

Louis Van Lint Louis Van Lint (December 26, 1909 – December 27, 1986) was a Belgian painter, major figure of the Belgian post-war abstraction. Biography Louis Van Lint studied painting at the Academy of Saint-Josse-ten-Noode (Brussels) under Henry Ottevaer ...

have been restored and are juxtaposed with contemporary design conceived by a team of European designers: Portuguese artist Juan Trindade for the interior, Belgian designer

Arne Quinze Arne Quinze (born 15 December 1971) is a Belgian conceptual artist known for his public art installations, which include sculptures, drawings, and paintings. He began as a graffiti artist in Brussels in his late teens with no formal art educ ...

for the Kwint public restaurant and the Panoramic Hall, Atelier Roland Jéol for the lighting. At the 2010 MIPIM, the real estate exhibition and conference, Square won the Special Jury Award.‘MIPIM Awards for two buildings glazed by AGC Glass Europe’
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Main source

''Hip to be SQUARE''. Published by Palais des Congrès plc, Brussels, 2009

References

External links

*
Tourism & Convention Bureau of Brussels official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Square - Brussels Meeting Centre Infrastructure completed in 1958 Infrastructure completed in 2009 Convention centres in Belgium World's fair architecture in Belgium