When the town of Mortsel launched an architectural competition to transform the old town hall into a community centre – featuring a library, a café and a multi-purpose hall – partial demolition seemed the obvious choice. Eagles of Architecture, however, challenged that assumption. They managed to accommodate the programme within the existing structure without dismantling the original building envelope.

In the 1960s, the town hall was built on the edge of the green area that surrounds Fort 4 in Mortsel. The building reflected the optimism of post-war modernism: based on the prediction that the population would quadruple, it was designed on a grand scale. The predicted demographic growth failed to materialise, however, with part of the imposing building left unused.