One of the landmark buildings of the seventies at the heart of the European district in Brussels, the Arlon-Trier building, will be the subject of an impressive refurbishment over the next few years in readiness for a sustainable future. The building’s new owners, project developers BPI Real Estate and AG Real Estate, have collaborated with the Brussels master builder to assemble a team of architects that will transform the existing building into an innovative office complex that pays particular attention to the well- being of its occupants while retaining today’s distinctive architecture.
The developers and the master builder’s team organised an architectural competition for the new design of the building, which drew a great deal of interest from both at home and abroad. Five candidates were given the opportunity to submit project proposals. The TRANS
– Util – CES team was ultimately selected thanks to their bold structural choices that respect the architecture of today’s building in its entirety.
Although several far-reaching structural interventions will be made at the heart of the building, the team of architects’ design leaves the outer shell virtually untouched in order for the building to retain its iconic and strikingly repetitive character.
To improve the quality of the indoor spaces, the entire internal structure, comprising heavy pillars, will be removed from the central section and will be replaced by a system of trusses to which the floors are connected by cables.
The future building will have a surface area of 18,500 m² above ground and another 1,700 m² additional useful surface area on levels -1 and -2. Future occupants will have access to such facilities as co-working spaces, a conference hall, meeting rooms, a fitness area, roof terraces, a garden and convenient bicycle storage.
The permit application will be submitted at the end of 2021, and the work has been scheduled for 2023-2024.
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