Thon Hotel EU, Brussels

The THON EU Hotel is a major investment of the Norwegian hospitality group in Belgium. It is the first major project restoring urban mix-use on the rue de la Loi in the European district of Brussels.

The project covers a whole city block which was fully occupied by three office building dating from different periods.

Several key aspects were developed to convert a dull administrative environment into a vibrant piece of city life.

• The street level is now a retail complex organized between crossing gallerias and an outdoor garden and terrasse. A combination of street front shops, cafes and restaurant have created a major hub of public life in the neighborhood.
• The upper levels combine 405 keys of a 4* hotel with residential apartments wrapped with a new glazed skin allowing to mix levels in the façade design as well as manage the new thermal insulation the buildings received.
• A meeting center and a vast bar/restaurant offer spaces for all sorts of social or professional gatherings.

The vast flat roofs in the center of the project have been converted to lively green roofs where the cooks have integrated greenhouses to produce locally different ingredients for the restaurant.

The combination of the building new performances with the sensible management is allowing the complex to be awarded a “Green Key” label.