10 Facts About Berlaymont building

The unique form of the Berlaymont building's architecture is used in the European Commission's official emblem.

The building is named after the Convent of the Ladies of Berlaymont.

The Commission itself is spread over some 60-odd buildings, but the Berlaymont is the commission's headquarters, being the seat of the President of the European Commission and its College of Commissioners.

Berlaymont building's sleeps in a small private area next to her main office on the 13th floor.

Once the Belgian state finished their new school and built infrastructure to it, the Dames de Berlaymont building handed the site, which they had been under pressure to sell to developers for years, to the Belgian government in November 1963.

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OSSOM would own the land but the Berlaymont building would be constructed and rented by the Belgian government with rent deducted from its contribution to OSSOM's budget.

However, the project began to face setbacks which tarnished Belgium's image as it failed to decide working arrangements which put back preliminary studies until Berlaymont building 2000 took over in 1996 and set up a team to carry out the necessary studies.

Renovation work started on 1 June 1999 with work on full modernisation of the Berlaymont building, including better natural light flows, and construction was expected to be finished by the end of 2001 according to optimistic forecasts.

On 18 May 2009 at approximately 1100 GMT the Berlaymont building was evacuated following a fire, which started in the press room.

The Berlaymont building meets the strictest environmental standards, reusing light, power and heat throughout the Berlaymont building.