Summary
In Rue Guimard in Brussels, near the European district, SVR-ARCHITECTS has designed a new office building for the publicly-listed Befimmo and specialist in office real estate in Belgium and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. Easily accessible, by metro or bus, and surrounded by parks and historical buildings, the architects and client aimed to create an exceptional building.
With a playful and questioning façade, spacious offices with high user comfort, a green courtyard and innovative, sustainable equipment, this well-located workplace is a magnet for talent.
The brand-new corner building now has absolute stopping power. This it owes to a playful frontage, with recessed and protruding volumes. They appear to be stacked obliquely on each another, in a play of planes and lines. Beside this interplay of volumes there is also the contrast between complete and partial transparency. By working with clear glass surfaces, partially coated surfaces with screen printing and opaque elements, the building acquires varying degrees of transparency. There is also the play of light created by the sun and by lighting with fine neon lines, making the façade even more lively. The whole building is given an airy lightness by the light grey, high, upright, ceramic plinths. A concept with which the architects allow the whole to
float visually.
However playful and iconic the façade may be, such a result comes from a well thought-out approach. On the inside, the architects designed a new structure of slender columns and beams, so that the previous load-bearing facade elements could be replaced by the new, light high-tech façade. This also literally shifted the boundaries of the building.
Eight spacious, flexible and clear floor planes, which make up around 6,000 m² of office space, now form, together with a green courtyard and uninterrupted views all around, an attractive new workplace.
Finally, the icing on the cake is the luminous and clear entrance hall which welcomes employees and their visitors.