Construction began in 1956, as a residence for the colony's Governor General. It was completed in 1961 and became the seat of the newly-formed Congolese Parliament, before President Joseph Kabila installed the Head of State's office here in 2003 and Parliament moved to the Palais du Peuple. It was here, in the large congress hall, that Congo's independence was proclaimed on June 30, 1960. The building's exterior can be admired from the outside, with two lateral wings articulated around a vast circular entrance pavilion.