The Council of the European Union is organising a European competition for the restructuring of the Residence Palace Building complex. The competition is in two stages, following a pre-selection made on the basis of application packages, and open to architects resident in European Union member countries*. In conformity with the UNESCO/UIA regulations, the competition has been approved by the International Union of Architects (UIA).

The competition is for the restructuring, extension, refurbishment and restoration of block A of the Residence Palace housing complex in Brussels, Belgium. This complex, of an overall area of some 40 000 m2, is currently used for offices. Half of the complex was built by the architect Michael Polak, between 1922 and 1927, for the financier Lucien Raisin who wanted to develop a prestigious collective housing programme. Of unquestionable heritage value, some parts of the complex are listed historic monuments.

The Régie des Bâtiments (Belgian State-owned building company) will assume the role of client for the restructuring of the building.

The restructured complex is designed to host the headquarters of the European Council and the Council of Ministers of the European Union. The programme includes ministerial meeting rooms, offices for the Presidency, for Member States' delegations and the directors of the Council's General Secretariat, reception rooms, offices for EU civil servants and other related facilities.

Participants will be selected on the basis of an application package. The invitation to submit candidatures is open to teams of architects and engineers, all the members of which are resident in the European Union and who are in a position to prove their capacity to design major administrative complexes of similar complexity and size and who have already completed such projects.

The application package will include a series of documents relative to the legal, financial and technical situation of the applicants. Representatives of the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union, the Régie des Bâtiments and a representative of the UIA will form an appraisal committee that will select the twenty-five participants in the competition from amongst the application packages submitted. Projects will be adjudicated anonymously in both stages.

Candidatures may be presented in one of the official languages of the European Union **. The languages for the competition itself will be English, French and Dutch.

15 October 2004

End November 2004

End February 2005

Beginning April 2005

End June 2005

End July 2005

The 25 participants selected to take part in the first stage of the competition, and who submit an entry, will each receive a remuneration of 10 000 euro each; participants selected for the second stage (10 maximum) a remuneration of 25 000 euro each. Finally, at the end of the second stage three prizes will be awarded: of 100 000 euro, 60 000 euro and 40 000 euro respectively. The contract to be concluded with the winners of the first prize selected by the jury will be drawn up by the Régie des Bâtiments.