The rooftop bar at Bozar (Belga)
Rooftop bars are the new hype in Brussels
More and
more rooftop bars are opening on tall buildings across the Brussels region. Cultural centres, museums, hotels and even
banks are taking a fresh look at their real estate in the hope of being able to
open a rooftop bar that affords a panoramic view of the Belgian and Flemish
capital.
Venues now
include the Victoria Tower near the Kruidtuin (Botanique), the roof of the former
Sheraton hotel at Rogier and soon also the ING Building.
Pascal
Smet, secretary of state for urban planning in the Brussels region, speaks of
several new rooftop terraces opening in the area around the North Station soon:
“We’re talking about rooftop terraces that will be open to the general public,
though opening hours will apply”.
Mr Smet
welcomes the investment in rooftop bars: “They provide a completely different
way of experiencing the city. Depending
on the building and where you are standing seeing Brussels from a height always
means something new. There’s a big
difference with cities like Paris where this doesn’t exist. We must play this trump card”.
A rooftop
bar will soon open on top of the ING Building.
ING’s Géry Wets accepts it’s a pretty unusual initiative for a bank but
he explains ING wants to connect with the city: “All our employees will be able
to use it as well as clients and visitors”.
