Belgium’s long-serving NATO headquarters was handed over to the Belgian Ministry of Defense with a ceremony.
Built in less than six months in 1966, the old headquarters was planned to be a temporary home for the Alliance when it relocated to Brussels in 1967. However, the building became NATO’s home for 51 years, during which it witnessed many decisions that shaped history
The design of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) headquarters evokes fingers woven into a symbolic union buckle, given its mission ranging from counter and prevention to unification and integration. The building provides security and privacy at the embassy level to each member state, while also offering common areas where delegates can meet. The new headquarters is built opposite the existing building on an area of 40 hectares. The headquarters will be able to accommodate 4,500 employees in a 250,000 m² functional area spread over 7 floors. The facilities of the headquarters are designed to accommodate 120,000 m² of office space, a conference center with state-of-the-art meeting rooms, media and restaurant facilities, a bank, sports and recreational facilities, a staff center, a technical building for energy supply and warehouses and workshops. In the building design, a series of innovative solutions such as photovoltaic cells, green roofs, cooled plates and natural ventilation have been used together in accordance with the sustainable design concept.
