1995, three and a half years after the building was vacated. Work was expected to finish in February 1997, but inefficient organisation led to delay after delay: rumours about air pollution and violation of standards, electricity failures and asbestos outside the screen brought work to a halt. Longer time frames and more capital were demanded to complete the work. Outside management was brought in with asbestos removal being completed in 1999. Renovation work started on 1 June 1999 with work on full modernisation of the building, including better natural light flows, and construction was expected to be finished by the end of 2001 according to optimistic forecasts. However once more there were further delays from the subcontractors, Berlaymont 2000 and SNCB who were constructing a railway link below the building. Completion date was pushed back each year until it reached mid-2004. Despite further considerable delays and legal battles, the building was handed over to the Commission in stages, starting from 1 July 2004 with civil servants moving back just before the start of the Barroso Commission, with their related cabinets and a total of 2,700 civil servants. In total, renovation took 13 years, five years longer than it took to build. The December 1998 handover date was delayed five times and the bill to the Belgian state for the poor planning and disagreements amounted, by some estimates, to €824 million. Fire On 18 May 2009 at approximately 1100 GMT the Berlaymont building was evacuated following a fire, which started in the press room. There were no reported casualties. The building does not have a fire sprinkler system except in the garage. Architecture The building, under the provisional name "Centre Administratif Europe", was designed by Lucien De Vestel, in association with Jean Gilson (Groupe Alpha), André and Jean Polak and with the recommendations of the engineer Joris Schmidt. It was directly inspired by the 1958 secretariat building of UNESCO in Paris (which was designed by Marcel Breuer, Pier Luigi Nervi and Bernard Zehrfuss). The technical design was ground-breaking at the time and generated an enthusiastic response from a Brussels journal: "This design concept reflects both the 20th century innovative spirit and sheer audacity and brings to mind the astonishing civil engineering arrow at the 1958 exhibition." The building has a cruciform design with four wings of unequal size spanning from a central core. It was built on piles located beneath each