In 2014, the Dutch firm Neutelings Riedijk Architects won the competition to design new office buildings for the Flemish Administrative Centre in Brussels. NRA secured the contract with a bold proposal that uncompromisingly championed the integration of visual art and poetry. It was a success.

The competition was commissioned by VAC De Meander, with Extensa Group as the investor. The Flemish Administration was to lease the building for the first eighteen years. NRA’s proposal to construct a new building on the Thurn and Taxis site, next to the canal, was a risk, given the financial constraints arising from the lease agreement and the fact that the walking distance to the nearest railway station for commuting civil servants was not to exceed 1,000 metres. The other three competitors proposed the reuse of vacant buildings near the North Station.