office KGDVS designs green brussels headquarters for broadcaster VRT

flemish public broadcaster VRT partners with architecture office KGDVS for the construction of its new headquarters in brussels. the project will replace the company’s current office space, which has stood for more than four decades. the construction team, is dubbed VRT morgen (translating to VRT tomorrow) and consists of office KGDVS and jaspers-eyers architects, bureau bas smets, tractebel, CES, ideal acoustics, willemen construct, jan de nul group and EEG. with its expected completion in the summer of 2026, the new media house focuses on flexibility and cooperation with meeting places where employees can gather and collaborate.

images by filippo bolognese images, © consortium VRT morgen

OFFICE kersten geers david van severen (KGDVS) with the VRT morgen consortium envisions the headquarters as two stacked volumes, compact and accessible. the building has a ground floor with a mezzanine and only three upper floors comprising an area of 285 by 285 feet. both the interior and exterior of the new VRT house will be woven with lush plant life. the call for the new-build project, which is part of the transformation of the reyers district and the realization of mediapark.brussels, started in february 2020. the project marks the winning proposal out of seven entries.

KGDVS designs its VRT headquarters in brussels with an octagonal volume at its base, hosting a spacious lobby. this space will house meeting places for employees and visitors along with three large television studios. above is the second volume, the work area, consisting of just three floors. each floor comprises an extremely spacious collaborative work space. the VRT is a creative house and in the future it will be possible to create content very easily on any office floor. flexibility and media creation go hand in hand.

the new VRT house is a compact building, integrated into the natural environment and with a limited ecological footprint. on the one hand, the construction project has opted to preserve as many existing trees as possible and, on the other hand, the new building is entirely free of fossil fuels. an insulating building shell is used and the building is fully heated by means of recuperated heat and heat pumps. a further 2,300 square meters (24,757 square feet) of solar panels are installed on the roof to support the electrical installation. the VRT has literally opted for a green building with five large inner gardens and adjoining terraces. the combination with the trees and the park makes this a distinct green environment, both inside and out.

project info:

project title: VRT headquarters

design team: OFFICE kersten geers david van severen (KGDVS), jaspers-eyers architects, bureau bas smets, tractebel engineering, CES, ideal acoustics

contractors: willemen construct, jan de nul and EEG

client: VRT

location: brussels, belgium

status: competition winner, proposal