Atelier Kempe Thill

In 2008, Atelier Kempe Thill won an international competition for the new parliament building of the German-speaking community in Eupen, Belgium. The project consists of two major parts: the remodeling of a monumental sanatorium from 1906 into a modern and multifunctional office building; and the design of an extension with representative spaces for the parliamentary meetings. The extension is positioned in front of the existing building. With its green façade and green roof, the structure becomes a landscape object and frames the monumental character and dominant position of the sanatorium on the hilltop. The front façade of the extension is fully glazed. This permits a wide panoramic view from inside the meeting room toward the surrounding landscape, with the border between inside and outside thus vanishing. The walls and ceiling of the main meeting room are clad in massive oak panels, which were custom designed for this project and regulate both the building climate and the acoustics. The existing building was renovated according to modern office and low-energy standards.