The municipal authorities wanted a more imposing building for the port city. Cornelis Floris de Vriendt designed it with several other architects and artists, after Domien de Waghemakere drafted a Gothic plan around 1540 that was never built. It was erected from 1561 to 1565, though the infobox gives completion in 1564. The style is Renaissance with Flemish and Italian influences, and the ground story is rusticated stone with arcades.
The Spanish Fury of 1576 burned it to a shell, and it was restored about three years later. Late 19th-century renovations by Pierre Bruno Bourla, Joseph Schadde and Pieter Jan August Dens drastically changed the interior and covered the open-air courtyard. Henri Leys painted murals for the Leys Hall.
It stands on the west side of the Grote Markt. It is listed with the Belfries of Belgium and France, a UNESCO site.
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