Lecture
What’s next for our existing buildings?
RIBA and VitrA talks
Great Hall at Barts North Wing, St Bartholomew’s Hospital
12th May, 2026
Our director Ben Speltz will give a talk as part of this year's RIBA x Vitra Talks series. He will discuss the practice's approach to working with existing buildings, drawing on a range of projects such as: Hospitalfield Arts, a complex amalgam of medieval buildings in Scotland; Düngerbau, an old chemical factory converted into workspace; and Royal Belge, a sixties office building transformed into a mixed-use program of restaurant, hotel and gym.
Photography René Dürr - Project Düngerbau
Related news
Royal Belge has been shortlisted for the RIBA International Awards. Selecting projects from five continents, the award recognizes a broad range of designs addressing global challenges such as climate change, resource scarcity, social equity, and rapid urbanization.
Our Royal Belge project is praised for its adaptive reuse strategies, extending the life of a modernist icon. The jury will visit the projects in the coming month.
Hospitalfield is awarded the 34th International Carlo Scarpa Prize for Gardens, 2025-2026, a prize awarded to a place with the capacity to transmit natural, historical and cultural values, devised and organised by the Fondazione Benetton Studi Ricerche. The prize is named in honour of Carlo Scarpa (1906-1978), the architect and creator of gardens. There will be a public ceremony in Treviso to celebrate the prize.
Conference
ARCH-E x ACE: Architectural Design Competitions
Keynote by Adam Caruso
The Mix Brussels
23rd April, 2026
The ARCH-E Consortium and the Architects’ Council of Europe (ACE) are organizing a conference on Architectural Design Competitions (ADCs). The program includes a keynote lecture by Adam Caruso at the start of the day, followed by panel discussions with European practitioners and policymakers as well as workshops and presentations on key topics in the field.
Phase 2 of our Masterplan for Hospitafields Arts, the Studios, have been shortlisted for the RIAS Awards in Scotland. This phase focuses on the more private areas of the site, creating studios and workshops with excellent access. Centred on the Rear Yard, this phase includes the renovation of the 1901 studios, conservation of the 1845 Patrick Allan-Fraser Studio, refurbishment of the Drawing School, and construction of a new studio building.
Royale Belge has won the Contemporary Heritage Award at the third edition of the Brussels Architecture Prizes. The prizes celebrate contributions to the spatial quality of Brussels.
Peter St John will be the keynote speaker at the annual Solemn Opening Ceremony of the Order of Architects in Belgium. He will discuss Caruso St John’s work on transforming existing buildings in Europe.
Angus council has approved plans for a new Collections and Study Centre at Hospitalfield. The 255 m² building will provide gallery space and archival storage for Hospitalfield's permanent collection, as well as workspace for staff, and welcome facilities for visitors.
Royale Belge has won a European Heritage / Europa Nostra Award for Conservation and Adaptive Reuse. Overseen by the European Commission in partnership with Europa Nostra, the awards celebrate and promote the highest standards in heritage interventions, research, and education, training and awareness-raising, as well the longstanding dedication of professionals and volunteers.
Royale Belge has won plaudits at the annual MIPIM real estate fair in Cannes. The project was shortlisted in two categories at the MIPIM Awards, Best Conversion and Best Mixed-use, and triumphed in both.
In conversation
Florian Zierer
Berlin International University of Applied Sciences
Berlin, Germany
8th October 2024
Florian Zierer will be in conversation at the Berlin University of Applied Sciences on 8th October 2024, introducing the practice's recent projects with existing buildings.
The project for the renovation of the Royale Belge in Brussels has now completed. An opening event was held on 28th June, hosted by Mix – a new venue encompassing a hotel, restaurant, gym and co-working space. The food hall and terrace on the ground floor has also opened, creating a new destination for the Watermaal-Bosvoorde area of Brussels. The project’s diverse functions are brought together by the new hall and staircase which creates a new centrepiece for the iconic building.
Renovation work continues at the Royale Belge in Brussels. The façade works have been completed, reinstating the original building’s iconic golden glass. The tower’s office floors and hotel rooms are nearing completion, with tenant fit-outs underway. Structural works for a new atrium have been completed, with two curved stairs connecting multiple functions across three floors. The atrium is naturally lit from above, with a large rooflight overhead that completes the pattern of the original diagrid roof.