A new flagship office building is being planned in Belval: Square 42 will bring together 20,350m2 of office space, supplemented by 1,250m2 of shops. The building is being developed by Atenor and designed by A2M in collaboration with Moreno Architecture et Associés.

The story of the development of this parcel (lot 42), located along the Porte de France in Belval, already dates back several years, when Moreno Architecture et Associés had been developing an initial project for the relocation of a major bank. It is a prime, strategic location, just in front of the RBC building, designed by Claude Vasconi, and connects with the future Central Square, which must respond to both the flow of cars circulating on the boulevard and the pedestrian and future commercial axis that leads to Square Mile. At the time, “we had responded to Agora’s call for tenders and carried out an in-depth study all the way through to the preliminary design, but the project did not materialise in the end,” explains Stefano Moreno of Moreno Architecture.

From one project to another

A new “design & built” competition was launched for the concept of the new building, and it was the developer Atenor, working with the architectural firm A2M in collaboration with Moreno architecture & Associés, which won the competition. “We were able to take advantage of our knowledge from the previous project while improving a lot of points under the leadership of A2M,” says Moreno.

The collaboration with the Belgian firm A2M, headed by Sebastian Moreno-Vacca, brother of Stefano Moreno, has helped to accelerate the project along several lines. “By combining our two offices, we have a much bigger strike force,” explains Moreno. “For our part, we are recognised in Luxembourg for our expertise in architecture, space planning, interior architecture. For its part, the A2M practice is recognised as a leader not only in Belgium, but on a European, even global, scale for environmental and sustainability issues.” The firm has indeed stood out for its ability to offer very high energy performance projects and has its own integrated design office. “It’s a win-win collaboration.”

The volume has not changed, because it is fixed by the master plan drawn up by KCAP, “a qualitative plan, but binding, which is not without representing a certain interest, because it allows a standardisation of projects”, remarks Moreno.

The project is also evolving in its planning, because from a single tenant, the building must now be designed for multiple occupants.

The design is also being developed in consultation with the other promoters of neighbouring projects. “Agora has developed collaborative work between us over a period of five workshops. This makes it possible, among other things, to examine subjects such as parking lots, external connections… It brings more coherence to the district and between the lots,” says Moreno-Vacca.

In addition to the green roofs, several planted loggias will be developed. Illustration: A2M-Moreno Architecture

A “smart” design   

To design the future building, the architects mainly relied on the environmental conditions. “We have studied with great care the course of the sun and its impact on the facades of the building,” explains Moreno-Vacca. Each 1.35m frame becomes a pixelated element that is included in the digital model and varies depending on the data that is communicated. This is how the facade opens or closes, becomes pleated or flat, depending on the course of the sun. “The formal composition in this case is dictated by the consideration of natural elements,” says Moreno-Vacca. In addition to these variations in surfaces, there is a play of full and empty, with cuts in the volume, interacting with the urban scale.

“We also proposed bringing a structural design a little more advanced than usual,” adds Moreno. “This approach subsequently allows a greater possibility of transforming spaces, and therefore a greater longevity of the building, which in itself is the best [form of] sustainability.” The structure of the stair/life cores are planned to allow an opening between two levels, if this is desired. “This structural planning allows a very long-term projection of the evolution of the building. It costs a little more upfront because it takes a little more effort and intelligence to start with, but offers a viable design over the long term, which is very attractive to an investor. It is also for this reason that the promoter would be interested in finding a lessee who occupies 10,000 or 12,000m2, because in this configuration, they can afford to ‘lose’ 200m2 of floor to open the slab and give another spatial quality to their offices. But if this is not the case, take-up by small units is also quite possible,” explains Moreno.

The entrance hall is a large volume oriented towards the street. Illustration: A2M-Moreno Architecture

The presence of plants has obviously not been forgotten. In addition to the green roofs, which are obligatory, plant-covered wall ties are installed at various points around the building in the form of loggias.

“We have also proposed to install NOx catalysts,” reveals Moreno-Vacca. “Using technical paint on the facade, car exhaust gases are captured and crystallised on the surface. Rainwater is used to evacuate them. So the building acts as if a 5-hectare park, the equivalent of Merl Park, was planted.”

For the façade materials, unlike neighboring projects which mainly use mineral components, the choice is here on a metallic expression. “This building is one of the last major office complexes in the neighborhood. Around we have Vasconi’s iconic building, Foster’s Icon project, and this building. We therefore had to develop an architectural expression that had character. We are building on the tradition of site-related metallurgy, but looking to the future, using more sophisticated and contemporary metalwork,” says Moreno.

An approach that responds to post-covid trends   

This reflection on environmental quality is accelerated with the covid crisis. The “new normal” approach in real estate is to bring to the market buildings that are hyper efficient in terms of energy but which also take into account the needs and quality of life of occupants in a much greater way. This is why both Breeam “excellent” certification and “gold” Well certification are targeted.

The building will also feature integrated intelligence and communicate with future occupants. To do this, the team enlisted the services of the Luxembourg company Sensus Nova, which is setting up a system of building tools that are intelligent, but easy to use. “Life in the building will be made easier with, for example, indication of attendance levels in the canteen, automatic recognition for [network] connection in an office, indication of the nearest available locker… All of this is developed without being unnecessarily complicated. It remains understated and easy to use,” concludes Moreno.

Today, the project is almost at the building authorisation stage. They expect to file for permission in June.

Offices are flexible platforms to meet any type of layout. Illustration: A2M-Moreno Architecture

Technical file

• Promoter: Atenor 
• Architects: A2M (project managers: Marcella Rufino Rocha and Stefano Dastoli), Moreno Architecture et Associés (project managers: Yannick Adam and Dominique Jacob) 
• Structural consulting engineers: ICB 
• Special technical consulting engineers: Felgen 
• Surface area: 20,350m2 of offices, 1,250m2 of shops 
• Location: Belval, Porte de France 
• Timetable: building permit application in June 2021, start of work in 2022

Originally published in French by Paperjam and translated for Delano