Auvicom has equipped more than 500 meeting rooms in the Marie-Elisabeth Belpaire building with the latest audiovisual equipment for the Flemish Government. The Marie-Elisabeth Belpaire building, a unique and sustainable office and residential complex, accommodates nearly five thousand civil servants and is renowned for its accessibility and circular construction principles.

The Marie-Elisabeth Belpaire building

The Marie-Elisabeth Belpaire building is a unique, fully accessible, sustainable, and largely circular structure where Flemish government employees from various Brussels offices will move in during 2024.

The building, formerly known as the WTC 1 and WTC 2 buildings on Simon Bolivarlaan, has been completely transformed into a combined office and residential complex. A new central beam connects the two existing towers, resulting in 14 spacious office floors with panoramic views. The complex includes offices, residential spaces, a hotel, sports facilities, leisure areas, dining, and retail spaces.

In early 2024, the building was inaugurated as the last of the three new Brussels office buildings of the Flemish government. The building accommodates nearly five thousand civil servants and is an example of accessibility, sustainability, and circular construction principles.

The multifunctional building provides specific infrastructure and facilities for all employees, combining office, residential, and hotel functions in an innovative way.

This includes the state-of-the-art setup of more than 500 meeting rooms with the latest audiovisual equipment by Auvicom.

The Procurement

The government contract was coordinated by the Facilitair Bedrijf Agency and was linked to a public tender under strict conditions, consisting of the following components:

• Supply and possible installation of various types of audiovisual equipment, including necessary preparatory work.
• Making adjustments to audiovisual installations.
• Maintenance of this equipment (preventive maintenance, corrective maintenance if necessary).
• Providing technical advice and support to users and designers.

Several parties participated in this tender and had approximately 2 months to submit a detailed proposal. In addition to a detailed quote, the proposal also had to include the following elements:

• Approach plan and project description, including a presentation of the installation team (experience).
• Acoustic study and rack layout of the large rooms.
• Schematic plan of the audiovisual setup.

Based on this, the Facilitair Bedrijf Agency selected the economically most advantageous offer based on the best price-quality ratio.
Auvicom emerged as the winner.

The Project

The project involved the setup of more than 500 meeting rooms, ranging from small and large auditoriums, a multipurpose room, sports facilities, a recording studio, courtrooms, to smaller hybrid meeting rooms and conference rooms, spread over various floors.

This setup includes the latest audiovisual equipment for hybrid communication. This means that each room is not only suitable for local meetings but also for the participation of multiple external attendees. These participants can fully engage in the meeting, both in terms of audio and video.

Describing the audiovisual installations of all rooms in detail would be too extensive; therefore, we highlight a few examples below. And because images speak louder than words, we have also made a film about the audiovisual setup of the Belpaire building. You can watch it at the top of this page.

The Grand Auditorium

The Grand Auditorium, located on the first floor, is an impressive hall with a stage setup consisting of a lectern and a desk for 5 people, surrounded by 300 fixed theater seats in a tiered arrangement. The purpose of the audiovisual installation is to enable end-users to hold various events in the auditorium, such as lectures, training sessions, meetings, and more. Each event can be conducted in a hybrid format, meaning that in addition to a physical audience in the room, an online audience can also participate. The Flemish Government adheres to the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) and Bring Your Own Meeting (BYOM) principles, where the video conferencing or streaming platform runs on the user’s laptop.

The installation is fully automated, allowing it to be easily operated in standard mode by a user without any technical knowledge and without the need for technician support. It is also possible to connect and extend with external AV equipment for more extensive events that require technical assistance.

Multipurpose Room

The purpose of the Multipurpose Room is to create a versatile space where various events such as hybrid meetings, lectures, training sessions, and receptions can be easily held. The installation supports both physical and online participants (BYOD/BYOM principle), allowing users to use their own devices and platforms.

Fully automated for ease of use, the system is intuitively operable without any technical knowledge, while also allowing for extensions with external AV equipment for larger events requiring technical support.

Office Floors

On various office floors (1, 7, 9, 11, 13, 15, 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27) of the Belpaire building, we find dozens of different types of small and large meeting rooms. The audiovisual setup of these rooms always allows end-users to hold both physical and hybrid meetings.

The wireless signal transmission system for videoconferencing (Barco Clickshare) is connected to the Flemish Government’s network and features a cloud application that monitors and manages the status of the devices and connected hardware.

In all similar rooms, the same types of materials are used to ensure a uniform user experience.

Meeting Floors

Floors 3 and 5 are entirely dedicated to meetings and events, featuring various large meeting rooms that meet the most modern audiovisual standards for both local and hybrid gatherings. The highlight is the VIP room, a spacious and elegant hall that can quickly be converted into two or three smaller rooms, with the audiovisual installation easily adjusted to the chosen configuration.

Additionally, these floors house the Small Auditorium, suitable for various events such as hybrid meetings, lectures, presentations, and training sessions. The stage features a lectern and a desk for five people, while the seating arrangement accommodates 80 people in theater style.

The space is equipped with an automated audiovisual installation, including projection, sound, and videoconferencing, allowing end-users to easily organize events.

Additionally, there is a professionally equipped Recording Studio with permanently installed studio equipment, designed to make high-quality video and audio recordings of presentations or discussions, for local recordings, online meetings, or live streaming.

Sports Facilities

Lastly, we would like to discuss the various sports facilities, including the Sports Hall and the Fitness Rooms on the ground floor.

In the Sports Hall, we have installed a high-quality sound system for the playback of speech and background music during sports and other activities. This installation includes eight ceiling speakers and an amplifier with built-in DSP, a wireless microphone receiver with an external antenna for guaranteed reception, a wireless beltpack with a headset microphone, and a wireless handheld microphone.

Users can easily connect their smartphone, tablet, or laptop for playing music via an analog connection with a stereo mini-jack or RCA and a Bluetooth connection.

In the Fitness Rooms, we installed projectors for displaying presentations and video content, as well as sound systems for speech playback via wireless microphones, background music, and video during various activities. Just like in the Sports Hall, users can also connect via Bluetooth, mini-jack, and RCA.

Professional Audiovisual Installations, Auvicom’s Specialty

Fixed professional audiovisual installations, such as those for the Flemish Government, are a true specialty of Auvicom. We continuously stay up-to-date with technological evolutions and revolutions. Our wide range of high-quality AV equipment is always in line with the latest market developments.

Our experienced technicians are happy to advise you on the installation of your audio, video, and lighting equipment. Professional equipment and expert advice are the guarantees for a successful project.