The ICÔNE office building by Foster + Partners is now open in Belval, Luxembourg. The 18,800-square-foot office space is bright and green, inspiring employees to work together. The design considers the growing demand for more flexible and secure workplaces. In addition to revitalizing the land and its surroundings, it pays homage to Belval’s illustrious industrial history. A BREEAM Excellent rating is the goal for this project.
©Nigel Young
ICÔNE is located in Belval, a new city quarter combining research, education, leisure, and commerce. The scheme relates to the scale of neighboring buildings and addresses the different characteristics of the surrounding streets. Its entrances are articulated differently in response to Porte de France, the main urban road to the west, and the Place de l’Académie to the East. New shops, cafés, and restaurants will bring life to these entrance elevations at pedestrian level.
©Nigel Young
ICÔNE Concept
ICÔNE, designed in collaboration with a local firm, BFF architects, features two wings that wrap around an atrium and an orthogonal roof that draws attention to the building’s structural grid and gives it an air of industrial sophistication. The dramatic scene unfolds before you begin, ending with the historical and monumental Belval blast furnace.
©Nigel Young
In sharp contrast to the rigid appearance, the interior is open and free-flowing. The dramatic arrival sequence is made possible by the atrium’s terraced terraces, which smooth over the differences in elevation between the street and the plaza. The community green-planted terraces for informal meetings and break-out spaces at upper levels are just one component of the rich and varied interiors made possible by the building’s open circulation.
©Nigel Young
ICÔNE’s façade is environmentally and structurally responsive, giving a unified approach that permits column-free interior office space while simultaneously providing solar shading and optimizing natural light levels within the building. Green loggias, viewable from the inside and exterior, enhance the building’s exquisite external appearance.
©Nigel Young
As Foster + Partners Partner Darron Haylock put it, “We are happy to celebrate the launch of this milestone building for Belval, which we began planning in 2016, years before the pandemic began. Covid has brought attention to the need for healthier and more flexible urban workplaces, and this project fulfills that demand. The complex’s vital organ is the atrium, a central space filled with natural light that fosters teamwork and improves employees’ productivity and well-being.”
©Nigel Young
“As a pioneer in this field, ICNE is a smart building committed to the well-being of its employees,” noted Geoffroy Bertrand, Country Director, BESIX RED Luxembourg. “We’ve created an office space that fosters collaboration, originality, and productivity while meeting tomorrow’s urban sustainability needs.”
Project Info:
Architects: Foster + Partners
Project type: Office Buildings
Location: Belval, Luxembourg
Area: 18800 m²
Year: 2023
Photographs: Nigel Young
Associate Architects: BFF Architectes
