The Cold War
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Works on the temporary Headquarters in Brussels began on 17 November 1966. The first step was to mark out the land.

The names of the Belgian, Dutch and German contractors were displayed at the entrance.

The deadline to complete the building was tight (only six months), so the pace of work was very intense. There were workers present on the site seven days a week.

As Belgium had a limited budget and very little time, it opted for a prefabricated building, which could not exceed three storeys. As a result, the site was very spread out.

After a lot of hard work, the North Atlantic Council settled into its new home in Brussels on 16 October 1967. At the time, staff and visitors were welcomed by guards in suits.

Taking the long corridors from one division to another made one realise just how spread out the Brussels site was.

Some officials (including the librarian) could still bring their pets to work.

For about thirty years, tasks were not very different to the ones at the previous headquarters at Porte Dauphine. The staff got on with their jobs. Letters were dictated to a secretary, who would first take them down in shorthand, then type them up on a typewriter and send them off by post.

Switchboard operators took calls and redirected them to the relevant services.

Simultaneous interpretation was available in the conference rooms, which welcomed diplomats and journalists alike.

Documents were consulted in an archives service.

Telephones were the main communication tool, but the use of new technology would soon lead to more efficient working methods.

Television and radio studios were modernised and could be accessed by journalists upon request.

The number of desks for sending telex messages to editors was increased, and the equipment became more sophisticated.

Journalists could also also use the phone booths in the press area. They no longer had to use the switchboard to make international calls.

The meeting schedule was carefully written out on an illuminated board.

Only later did two new tools bring about great change: computers and the internet in the late 1990s