Construction began on 4 April 1967, followed by formal inauguration on 25 June 1970.[1] The client was the insurer Royale Belge. After it was merged into the French AXA in 1999, the complex was sold to Cofinimmo and leased back until 2018. AXA moved its Belgian headquarters to the Place du Trône/Troonplein (former Electrabel headquarters) in 2017. The United States became the new owner of the buildings on the Boulevard du Souverain/Vorstlaan, with the intention of housing the US Embassy. However, the structure proved unsuitable for supporting heavy bulletproof glass.[2] To avoid drastic transformations, the Brussels-Capital Region's government placed the building on its safeguarding list, after which the Americans abandoned the project.[3]
The cross-shaped design is by the architects René Stapels and Pierre Dufau, who were inspired, among other things, by Eero Saarinen's John Deere World Headquarters (Moline, Illinois). The building is 50.8 metres (167 ft) high and has a floor space of 54,000 square metres (580,000 sq ft). The exterior consists of corten steel and bronze-colored smoke-colored windows. Thanks to the landscape architects Jean Delogne and Claude Rebold, the whole is harmoniously planted between ponds and greenery.
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