Amidst the historic buildings of the Mont des Arts hill in Brussels, a slender, light-filled building with rich iron decoration stands out. The former Old England department store was built at the end of the 19th century with modern commerce in mind and almost immediately became one of the most interesting examples of Belgian Art Nouveau. It now houses the Museum of Musical Instruments, an internationally renowned institution.
From aristocratic residence to commercial empire
Before the end of the 19th century, Old England’s headquarters were located in a building of former aristocratic residences from the late 18th century, located on Place Royale. The complex was the initiative of the Count de Spangen, but in the following decades it passed into the hands of private companies. The Old England Company began to buy up further parts of the property in 1905, 1909 and 1911, and finally, in 1913, the entire complex was modernised, removing the historic interiors to adapt them to the requirements of modern commerce.
The visionary architect and the origins of modern Art Nouveau
The design for the new commercial building at Montagne de la Cour was drawn up by Paul Saintenoy, one of the representatives of Belgian Art Nouveau. The architect was inspired by the solutions of Victor Horta and Paul Hankar, who were the first to introduce modern elements into architecture based on steel structures and large glazing. Although he did not achieve the same fame as his masters, Saintenoy became famous in Brussels as the author of numerous Art Nouveau-style townhouses, many of which have survived to this day. He worked according to the idea of structural rationalism, drawing also on the work of Eugène Viollet-le-Duc.
Old England – steel and glass in the service of commerce
A new branch of Old England opened in 1899 close to the existing premises. The building, designed with engineer Emil Wyhowski de Bukanski, was constructed on a challenging plot of land with a curved and sloping shape. A six-storey steel-framed edifice was erected there, the centrepiece of which was a central bay window with a high arched attic. The fourth floor, meanwhile, featured a corner oriel terminating in a turret-like metal pergola. The entire façade was almost entirely glazed, providing the shop’s interiors with excellent natural light. The building was truly impressive.
Clarity of form and modern aesthetics
The façade of the building, painted in a distinctive dark green colour, was enriched with metalwork inspired by floral motifs. The enamelled lettering in shades of yellow and orange contrasted with the bright facades of the surrounding buildings, making the department store a landmark in the city space. Through the glass walls, passers-by could see the interior display, which was an invitation to visit and emphasised the modern, transparent nature of the retail business. It was one of the first examples of the use of an exposed steel and glass structure on this scale in commercial construction.
New life for the former Old England department store
After the closure of the Old England shop in 1972, the building was left abandoned. Even before that, the striking façade had been simplified and stripped of most of the fancy details, greatly impoverishing the architecture of the Saintenoy department store. The Belgian state bought it back in 1978, and a decade later a major renovation began. By then, the building was already in a really bad state of repair. In the same year, it was entered in the register of monuments of the Brussels Capital Region. Between 1989 and 1994, restoration and adaptation work was carried out, enabling the Museum of Musical Instruments to move into the building.
Home of the unique museum
Since 2000, the former site of the Old England department store has housed the Museum of Musical Instruments. The institution, part of the Royal Museums of Art and History, has one of the largest collections of musical instruments in the world. In total, it has more than 8,000 pieces in its collection. The museum also occupies an adjacent neo-classical 18th century building designed by Barnabé Guimard. Thanks to its location in the city centre, the museum is easily accessible to everyone. It is close to Place Royale and the Magritte Museum, and is served by metro and railway stations.
Source: admirable-facades.brussels, bruxellesmabelle.net
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