Greenpeace Belgium HQ / Archipelago

Architects: archipelago
Area: 2,300 m²
Year: 2024
Photography: Stijn Bollaert
Client: Via Ex
Partners: AAIA, MATRIciel, VETO
Design Team: archipelago
City: Brussels
Country: Belgium

Greenpeace Belgium HQ office project designed by archipelago in Brussels has adapted a former organ factory into a flexible workspace that aligns architectural reuse with environmental restraint. Completed in 2024, the project applies a sufficiency-based strategy by preserving existing structures, matching spatial and climatic conditions with specific Greenpeace activities, and limiting material interventions. Through an activity-based layout developed via co-creation with the organization, the headquarters supports simultaneous work modes, fosters community interaction, and incorporates shared spaces for local engagement. The reuse of structural elements not only reduces embodied carbon but introduces architectural complexity through a sequence of differentiated volumes and climate-responsive interiors.

Greenpeace Belgium HQ is located within a dense urban block in the center of Brussels. The project repurposes a former organ factory, known as Manufacture d’Orgues de Bruxelles, into a new headquarters for Greenpeace. The design of the archipelago begins with a spatial analysis that links the existing structures, interiors, and environmental conditions to the specific activities of the organization. This method of “matchmaking” informed a low-tech intervention that maintains high spatial quality by adapting rather than replacing.

The project site at Vergotedok, in Brussels’ rapidly changing canal zone, presented a complex urban condition. A mix of row houses, hidden industrial buildings, canal views, cement silos, and protected heritage fabric defined the immediate context. To preserve this layered atmosphere, the architects employed a design strategy based on sufficiency. This approach prioritizes what is already available structurally and climatically over additive solutions, ensuring each design move is targeted and necessary.

Design development began through a co-creation process, which included time spent in the former Greenpeace offices and on the Rainbow Warrior ship in Ostend. The team identified nine core work activities: large meetings, small meetings, informal meetings, focused work, calling, eating, making, climbing, and resting. These were mapped across the site, with shared use and acoustic performance informing the spatial layout. The configuration supports multiple activities occurring at once, whether separated or allowed to intersect.

Shared spaces were intentionally placed to encourage collaboration between Greenpeace and local organizations. Clustering activities and introducing acoustic zoning allowed for functional overlap without disrupting focus. The resulting layout offers both fixed and adaptable zones that meet varied operational needs.

Preserving and transforming the existing structures was both an environmental and architectural choice. Minimizing demolition helped mitigate embodied carbon while embracing what the architects describe as “incremental bricolage” enabling a more diverse set of spatial typologies. This process uncovered opportunities for differentiation without over-design.

Programmatic elements were carefully matched to structural typologies. The rear section of the former factory now serves as a workshop space for Greenpeace activism. The front-facing row houses accommodate guest rooms. Between these ends, a continuous sequence of public and private areas, indoor and outdoor transitions, and varying degrees of thermal conditioning shape the daily experience of the space. The organization’s dynamic operational character is reflected in the flexible, responsive spatial framework.