“We are delighted to celebrate the opening of this landmark project for Belval, which we began designing in 2016, well before the pandemic began. Covid has highlighted the need for healthier and more flexible urban workspaces, which is exactly what this project provides. The light-filled central atrium is the beating heart of the complex, promoting collaboration and enhancing employee wellbeing.”
Darron Haylock, Partner, Foster + Partners.
The building, designed by Foster + Partners in collaboration with local practice BFF architectes, is arranged as two wings enclosing the central atrium, wrapped by a distinctive orthogonal façade and roof which emphasises the structural grid and gives the building appropriate to its industrial setting. The historic and symbolic Belval blast furnace forms the central focus of the dramatic vista from the atrium.
ICÔNE, a office complex by Foster + Partners. Photograph by Nigel Young / Foster + Partners.
ICÔNE, a office complex by Foster + Partners. Photograph by Nigel Young / Foster + Partners.
The atrium resolves the level changes between the street and the plaza through a series of stepped terraces which create a spectacular arrival sequence. The open circulation adds to the vibrancy of the internal spaces, with communal green landscaped terraces for informal meetings and break-out spaces at higher levels as part of a rich and varied whole.
The façade is both structural and environmentally responsive, providing an integrated solution which allows for internal column-free office spaces as well as solar shading and maximised internal daylight. The external façade benefits from a series of external green loggias, visible from both the inside and outside of the building.
