Start of the studies for the restoration of the Royal Conservatory of Brussels

The design office for the restoration of the Royal Conservatory of Brussels has been announced. The contract has been awarded to the joint venture Origin-A2RC Architects-FVWW.

Beliris and its partners, professors, students, administrative and technical staff members and researchers from the Conservatory, as well as music lovers and art and heritage enthusiasts... many people are delighted today with the launch of a new stage in the Brussels Conservatory restoration project. This is a huge step for this project!

Two main objectives form the basis of the project: to restore and enhance a complex with a high heritage value and to meet the specific needs of users.

The Conservatory is an architectural gem in the heart of Brussels. Its history and its neoclassical buildings, dating from 1872 and arranged around a main courtyard, are a work of international renown and require extensive renovation, respecting the original architecture. The site, almost all of which is listed, is composed of several entities: the main building on Rue de la Régence, the library and several houses on Rue aux Laines.

The site is an important cultural hub in Brussels and part of a high-quality music platform with a local, national and international aura. The building currently houses two university-type educational institutions in the fields of music and speech arts as well as a library. Due to its function, it requires both excellent infrastructure and efficient facilities.

The first stage of this study includes a historical analysis and a complete inventory of the buildings, an in-depth examination of the needs and constraints of the users, an acoustic analysis and specific research for the restoration of a uniquely rich organ.

These studies include structural work for the various buildings, bringing the installations up to standard, replacing the electrical, heating and ventilation installations, reassigning the premises for greater user comfort, restoring the large concert hall and its equipment, creating a new performance hall for chamber music and a rehearsal hall that can accommodate a symphony orchestra, creating classrooms and master classes, reorganising administrative functions in the heart of the complex, restoring the Conservatory's largest instrument, its classical organ dating from 1880, reorganising the interior spaces, signage, accessibility, circulation in the buildings, creating artists' dressing rooms, exterior landscaping and lighting... In short, everything needed to give the Conservatory its style back and allow students to train in the best possible conditions.

This forward-looking project has an open vision thanks to the designated design office. This is based mainly on the link between the building and its function. By optimally arranging the functions at the heart of the complex, the site will once again become a high-performance learning environment. In its proposals, the design office emphasised light and views in a functional layout. Origin, A2RC and FVWW are focusing on a coherent whole that invites meetings and discussions with areas that stimulate sharing. The main mission of the design office will be to understand in detail the functioning of the institutions that work there so they can create a project that meets the needs of the users as much as possible, in order to translate this into a high-quality project.

Beliris and the federal teams supporting Brussels, are in charge of this first stage of the studies in close collaboration with its partners: the limited company Conservatory, owner and manager of the premises, composed of representatives of the Régie des Bâtiments, the Flemish Community (via the limited company School Invest) and the Wallonia-Brussels Federation.

Beliris has a budget of €2.35 million to carry out the first stages of the project. The firm stage of the study represents 515,000 euros. The first results of the studies will be established within a year.