The building and its footbridge over Rue Belliard/Belliardstraat make up a complex designed by the architectural firm Groep Planning (established in Bruges in 1966 by Jan Tanghe, Jacques Pêtre, Ignaas Deboutte and Willy Canfyn), a leading player in 1980s Belgian postmodernism.
The Van Maerlant building (VMA) is one of the spaces occupied by the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) and the European Committee of the Regions (CoR). The EESC is an EU consultative body representing civil society in Europe. Its expert members help to optimise the quality of EU policies and legislation, focusing on socially relevant issues. The CoR represents local and regional authorities from across the European Union and shares its opinion on new laws that impact regions and cities.
Its postmodern architecture clearly stands out from the glass architecture surrounding it. Built between 1980 and 1988, it is named after a 15th-century Flemish poet and originally served as an office for the European Parliament. The building features three conference rooms and 210 offices spread across nine floors. It has a covered passageway on the ground floor, offering shelter from the rain. To better meet its objective of linking up with other buildings housing European Parliament groups, a footbridge was built at the entrance to the building in Rue Belliard/Belliardstraat. Anyone driving along Rue Belliard/Belliardstraat and looking up will see this amazing suspended footbridge decorated with sculptures of female figures. The whole structure is permeated by motifs from neoclassical architecture, such as the barrel arch and the medallion. The roofs of the building are complex, bulbous, almost baroque. The bridge is decorated with a group of bronze statues, the work of Belgian sculptor Jean-Paul Laenen and called Le fil d’Ariane (Ariadne’s Thread). Golden threads held by two Ariadnes hang over the arch of the bridge, symbolising the European Union. This detail was added in 1991, after the footbridge was built, embellishing it with gold and bronze. All of this represents an emblematic excess far from the lightness expected near Parc Léopold/Leopoldspark.
After the recent renovations between 2020 and 2023 which integrated a host of sustainable and innovative solutions into all spaces, the building now connects tradition with technology, functionality with beauty, the past with the future.