The new RTBF building marks a pivotal moment in the evolution of the francophone public broadcaster and in the development of the media park in Schaerbeek. For the architects at V+ and MDW, the main challenge did not necessarily lie in the scale of the project or even the multitude of partners. Instead, they considered one fundamental question:  how does one, in this day and age, transform an ordinary office block into a building with an institutional, architectural appearance?

The former complex on Boulevard Reyers, a technically driven and defensive building from the 1960s, used to house both the RTBF (Radio-télévision belge de la Communauté française) and the VRT (Vlaamse Radio- en Televisieomroeporganisatie), although both operated in strict separation. The building itself was conceived as an efficient machine: closed off from the city and rigidly organised.