't Zegel in Mechelen was originally built in 1838 as a soap factory that produced palm oil and coconut oil based soaps. The soap factory was short lived. As of 1843 it was taken over by the Belgian National Railroad Company, which converted it into a central warehouse and added two wings.

In 1868 the Belgian Postal services acquired the by then nearly 5,500 square meterbuilding. From then on it was used for printing and distributing stamps.

When production ceased in 1993 there were plans to develop the site for offices and housing. Unfortunately, the project never got off the ground due to severe soil contamination. The entire project has been stalled ever since, as the costs of remediating the site were astronomical and no one wanted to foot the bill. 

Since 2023 a new project developer took over and since then the renovation works are steadily progressing.