Market Officials Go Underground

Press, Volume CIX, Issue 32114, 9 October 1969, Page 7

Market Officials Go Underground

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter—Copyright)

BRUSSELS.

Officials of the European Common Market’s Executive Commission are going underground.

A vast new headquarters building, called the Berlaymont Centre, where hardly any windows open and the main conference rooms are below street level, is drawing grumbles from some and compliments from others. The irregular X-shaped building is two-thirds below ground level. Only the 14 members of the commission on the top storey have the

privilege of being able to open their windows. The 14 commissioners and some agricultural experts are already installed, but the entire move is expected to take until the end of the' year. They have moved from a building nearby, which the commission will continue to occupy. Every floor of the Berlaymont Centre is air-condi-tioned, and above the top offices, which command fine views of Brussels, is a helicopter pad, from . which important visitors descend to a large reception hall. Above ground, a photoelectric eye measures the brightness of the sun on the huge expanses of glass and causes Venetian blinds to close automatically if the heat exceeds a certain level. Lesser functionaries at the commission have to rely on piped air in their offices, although the temperature can be regulated to suit individual occupants. “We’re not at all satisfied with the building,” one official said. “We have a feeling of claustrophobia." However, others said they would soon get used to the air-conditioning and praised the interior decoration and the ample cupboard space. Construction of the Berlaymont Centre cost about ss7m.