Former RVS Headquarters
Address Rue Royale 284
City/Neighborhood Saint-Josse-ten-Noode
Style(s)
- Art Deco
Original use
- Offices
Année 1936
Architect(s) and/or artist(s)
- Duijnstee J.
Built in 1936-38 by architect Jos Duynstee for the Dutch insurance company "Rotterdamse Verzekering Societeiten" RVS.
The style is highly modernist-functionalist. The rather austere façade features regular bay windows and a tall, backlit glass banner that gives it its distinctive character.
The large entrance door is surrounded by quarter-round bluestone decorated with mosaics.
Once inside, one discovers a remarkable preserved and restored decor, made of black, green, and ochre tiles (in the company's colors), a stairwell and a stained-glass window spanning the entire height of the building, and a tiled wall decoration illustrating the history and locations of the RVS.
It was created from designs by Dutch artist Jaap Gidding and produced by the Belgian company Céramiques d'Hemixem, renowned in the 1930s.
In the management office, wall furniture made of tiles and wood has been superbly restored according to the original plans.
The building has been listed since August 1988. The municipal administration of St Josse-ten-Node has housed some of its departments here since 2018.
SJT01 - Unless otherwise stated © www.admirable-facades.brussels for all photos