In Brussels, Europe’s largest construction site recently wrapped up. The iconic new NATO headquarters is a design by SOM+ Assar Architects, based on the image of interlocked fingers, symbol of unity among the NATO member states. The immense international appeal of this complex also has a Belgian slant: VK Engineering was responsible for the design of all the technical installations, while Renson supplied the façade cladding and structural sun protection.
A gigantic town in itself
A surface area of 250,000 m², 8 wings around arranged around a central hall, room for 4000 staff and an estimated 500 average visitors per day. These are but some of the figures that characterize the size of the new NATO headquarters in Brussels.
With all imaginable facilities on site, it is a veritable town in itself. This town extends across the imposing main building containing offices, a conference centre, restaurants, shops and press facilities, as well as an industrial building that – in addition to various workspaces – houses all the logistics and technical installations, a staff centre with restaurant, cafeteria, sports and recreational facilities, etc.
Linius façade cladding: practical and aesthetic
A project such as this can certainly expect to make an international impact, and hence Renson is very proud that the design made room for the practical as well as decorative Linius wall and façade cladding system. The system is made of extruded aluminium blades that are invisibly mounted on vertical support structures, giving a sober visual result.
In the same style, Renson has developed, specially for this project, both vertical and horizontal sun protection blocks with new Icarus shield-shaped (Contego) blades for the ‘staff centre’, a design which respects the building’s consistently sober look and feel. The same is also true of the open-and-close segments with Renson’s Icarus Plano blades which – mounted in Loggia frames on the ‘guard house south’ – provide for a dynamic sun protection that makes for a comfortable interior climate.
