20 Jan. 2006

Review of the concept design Background History of the New Headquarters Project Following the realignment of NATO project management and turnover of the design and construction management responsibility to the Belgian government in December 2004, there has been substantial progress on the new NATO Headquarters project. The Concept Design Team, Belgian Project Management Team and NATO Headquarters Project Office cooperated throughout the first half of 2005 on a detailed review of the functional requirements of the building, and a study of the ability of the contest-winning concept design to meet those requirements. Inevitably, that process led to a revision of the concept design which was completed in October 2005. Numerous iterations of the design were developed and tested, with the intent of maximizing the building’s functionality and efficiency, minimizing life-cycle costs, while retaining those important features of the design which were its “raison d’être”. If all goes as planned, the North Atlantic Council will authorise Belgium to proceed with the further design work by the first of March 2006 .