Before the summer of 2020, the European Parliament launched a competition for the renovation or new construction of the existing Paul-Henri Spaak Building – popularly known as the Caprice des Dieux. Two years later, the winner has been announced: JDS Architects, in collaboration with Coldefy, NL Architects, Ensamble Studio and Carlo Ratti Associati, have been commissioned to design the largest, most imposing and most complex building in the European Quarter. Jury members Kristiaan Borret and Lisa De Visscher explain the selection process and the chosen projects.

Just like the European decision-making process itself, this competition was no simple undertaking. During the years of preparation, MEPs regularly intervened in the debate over the project definition and, as they could never agree on whether the building should be completely demolished or thoroughly renovated, both options were simply carried over into the competition. The choice lay with the architects, and the jury had to compare apples with oranges. In the meantime, the dithering parliament has been overtaken by reality, and reuse is now high on the agenda for sustainable building. The competition brief was, however, full of other, more technical sustainability ambitions and was, of course, particularly complex due to the building’s exceptional function and the various types of security measures.