The expansion of the Europol organisation in The Hague led to the decision to construct a new office building. The new headquarters is part of the urban design plan that is called the World Forum and is in the International Zone, where institutions such as the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) are housed. The design by Quist Wintermans Architects consists of a rectangular base of 60 x 100 metres on top of which stand four slabs of different heights.
The new building has façades comprising 800,000 metallic silver-grey glazed bricks, supplied by Koninklijke Tichelaar Makkum with a specially developed glaze. CRH Kleiwaren supplied the unglazed bricks which were glazed by Tichelaar in 4 different shades and were delivered ready mixed on each pallet. Historically, this order was one of the largest received by Koninklijke Tichelaar Makkum.