The Place de Brouckère was laid out following the covering of the river Senne (1867–1871), as part of the major urban works by the architect Léon Suys under the tenure of the then-mayor of the City of Brussels, Jules Anspach.

[6][7][1] The work to cover the river, which nearly surrounded the church, preserved the building's integrity at great trouble and expense, but it was finally demolished in 1893, its style no longer popular with the people and its presence unsuitable for the area.

[5][10][1] In the centre of the square, left empty by the destruction of the church, a granite fountain-obelisk dedicated to the memory of Jules Anspach, by the architect Charles-Émile Janlet [fr], was erected.

Its appearance back then earned it international fame, and it was referenced in many works of music, among them Django Reinhardt's jazz song Place De Brouckère (1942).

On that occasion, car traffic was channelled in the square's centre between wide pavement-terraces fitted out in the "above-ground" style of the time with the addition of numerous benches, trees and planters.

[1] The focal point is the Hotel Continental (1874) by the architect Eugène Carpentier [nl], an eclectic building well recognisable to the people of Brussels because of the large luminous Coca-Cola sign on its roof.

[21] This roof, which was originally topped with an imposing copper sculptural group representing The Feast by Louis Samain, was considerably simplified following a fire that ravaged the building in 1901.

[28] On the opposite side of the square stands a set of seven apartment buildings in an eclectic style with a dominant neo-Gothic influence, designed by the architect Léon Jules De Blois in 1873–1876.

The ensemble includes the former Eldorado cinema (1906), now the UGC De Brouckère, with its Grand Room featuring African-themed Art Deco motifs designed by the architect Marcel Chabot [fr] in 1931–32.