The Bibliothèque Solvay can be hired for private and corporate events of 50 to 250 guests: conferences, seminars, receptions, dinners, recitals, fashion shows and exhibitions. It is a protected early twentieth-century building on the edge of Parc Léopold in Brussels, managed by the events company Edificio. The largest setup is the seminar room and the rotunda together, with 250 people for a cocktail and 160 seated for dinner.
Seminars and company events
Edificio lists conferences and international congresses among the events it organises here, and its multilingual team supports you from first contact until your guests leave. The services include advice, floral decoration, catering concepts, sound, entertainment and branding. The seminar room takes 80 in theatre layout, 60 at a dinner and 36 in a board room layout. The reading room takes 150 in theatre layout and 80 in a school layout.
Rooms and capacities
The venue offers three kinds of space. The reading room on the ground floor has been restored as it was. The basement, the former archive room, has been renovated in a contemporary style and suits lunches, breaks or receptions around the bar. The terrace and forecourt look over Parc Léopold.
Capacities given by the venue, in order cocktail, dinner, theatre, school, board room:
Reading room: 225, 150, 150, 80, 40.
Terrace: 30 for a cocktail, 30 seated.
East Mezzanine and West Mezzanine: 75, 45, 60, no school, 20 each.
Seminar room: 100, 60, 80, no school, 36.
Rotunda: 150 for a cocktail, 100 seated.
Seminar room and Rotunda together: 250 for a cocktail, 160 seated.
Catering
Edificio works only with selected catering partners, because the buildings are protected and fragile. The same logic applies to sound and light: the venue's own suppliers handle all audiovisual work and know the rooms well. A wifi network is available for standard use, and the ICT team can provide a tailored solution for other needs.
History and setting
Industrialist and senator Ernest Solvay founded the Institute of Sociology in 1902 as a research laboratory and meeting place for scholars, which the venue describes as a first in Europe. The architects Constant Bosmans and Henri Vandeveld drew the plans and built it. Behind a plain classical facade, the interior combines precious wood, mosaics and stained glass in an eclectic style. The site was neglected in the 1980s, listed as a historic monument in 1986 and restored by the Brussels-Capital Region and citydev.brussels in 1994. The neighbouring Cité des Sciences hosted the Solvay Conferences, where scientists such as Einstein and Bohr met.
Getting there
Edificio states that all its venues are easy to reach by public transport, and that public car parks are close to each of them. The Bibliothèque Solvay sits next to Parc Léopold in Brussels.
