Parliament of the German-speaking community

Based on the Treaty of Versailles from 1919, the territory of Eupen-Malmedy was assigned to Belgium, thus making 70,000 Germans members of the Belgian kingdom. The German-speaking minority in Belgium today enjoys autonomous protection and has also had its own parliament since 1984. For this purpose, the former sanatorium building from the early last century was renovated; however, it lacked suitable representative spaces and had to be significantly reconstructed for its new purpose. The smallest European parliament emerged under the winning design of the Rotterdam studio Kempe Thill, which won an international competition in the autumn of 2008, and five years later, in October 2013, the parliamentary building was ceremoniously opened. The architects did not want to disturb the historical structure with their design, but at the same time did not want to conceal the new extensions. On the contrary, they aimed for “a composition where both buildings will have their own character while still forming an architectural unity.” The resulting solution was a modern extension with a flat roof, which is asymmetrically placed into the slope beneath the renovated sanatorium, creating a modern pedestal under the historical building. The authors themselves refer to their design as a “object situated in the landscape before the manor house.”
Once the roof and exterior walls of the new building are covered in sedum, a large “cushion of plants” will create a pleasant atmosphere in front of the entrance to the complex. As a result, the new object becomes one of the components of the surrounding landscape and does not create contrast.
The original sanatorium from the early last century was remodeled during the 1960s and 1970s. The architects removed these additional interventions during the renovation. The extension houses a chamber with a panoramic view of the calming park. Not only for acoustic reasons, most of the interior in the hall is made of wood, which is present on the floor, walls, ceiling, and built-in furniture.