The European Parliament has initiated an international design competition for the renewal of its plenary building (SPAAK), located in a complex in the centre of Brussels. The open pre-qualification procedure for the selection of competitors among candidates was launched on 26 May 2020. Architects interested in participating in the renewal of the SPAAK building are invited to apply. 

Organised by the European Parliament, the restricted international single stage design competition will be conducted according to the UNESCO Standard Regulations for International Competitions in Architecture and Town Planning and the UIA best practice recommendations. Competition organizers are looking for a sustainable approach with a strong emphasis on "operability, maintainability, flexibility and adaptability”. The new European Parliament should “incorporate best durability and sustainability practices with a considered balance between simplicity and thoughtful technology.”

PROCEDURE

The European Parliament will shortlist candidates (groups of architects, as lead members, together with structural engineers and environmental experts).

At the end of the pre-qualification procedure, the shortlisted candidates will be invited to submit their design proposals, which will then be evaluated by the jury. The jury will submit the list of winners to the European Parliament, along with its report for commissioning and recommendations for development following the competition.

JURY

The jury will comprise 11 voting jurors:

Rainer Wieland, Vice-President of the European Parliament
Pedro Silva Pereira, Vice-President of the European Parliament
Rudy Vervoort, Minister-President of the Brussels-Capital Region
Bety Waknine, Head of the Brussels Planning and Heritage Regional Public Service
Marilyne Andersen, Physicist and Environmental specialist, Lausanne, Switzerland
Kristiaan Borret, Urban Planner, BouwMeester Architect of the Brussels-Capital Region
Manuelle Gautrand, Architect, Paris, France
Dorte Mandrup, Architect, Copenhagen, Denmark
Carme Pigem, Architect, Olot, Spain
Kazuyo Sejima, Architect, Tokyo, Japan
Dimitri Tenezakis, Architect, Head of Luxembourg and Strasbourg Major Construction Projects Unit ? DG INLO ? European Parliament

PRIZES

Each competitor, preselected by the jury on the basis of their complete design project in compliance with the competition rules, will be granted the amount of EUR 75,000 (excluding VAT).

The jury will choose 5 laureates among the submitted design concepts, and will award prizes among them. The total prize money will amount to EUR 400,000 (excluding VAT).
The prizes will be the following :

1st prize : EUR 120,000
2nd prize : EUR 100,000
3rd prize : EUR 80,000
4th prize : EUR 60,000
5th prize : EUR 40,000

TIMELINE

Period for Questions during Application Procedure (online forum) : 24 June 2020

Deadline for application : 9 July 2020

Dispatching of invitations for the design competition : September 2020

Participants Colloquium : Date of invitation + 2 weeks

First Deadline for submitting projects : Date of invitation + 12 weeks

Second Deadline for submitting model and renderings : First deadline + 2 weeks 

Jury meeting : Late January 2021

Project confirmation by European Parliament : February - March 2021

For more information, please visit the European Parliament Design competition site.