ICÔNE building concept; Credit: BESIX RED

Real estate agency BESIX RED has announced the signature of a fifteen-year lease agreement with the banking group Société Générale Luxembourg for the occupation of the entire ICÔNE building in Esch-Belval.

The 18,750 sqm office building, intended to be a true living space and a reference for the post-COVID-19 work experience, aims to redefine office real estate.

Arnaud Jacquemin, CEO of Société Générale Luxembourg, stated: "We are reaffirming Société Générale’s roots in Luxembourg through our real estate strategy, which aims to bring together all our employees and activities into two high-quality buildings by 2023: our historic Arsenal headquarters in Luxembourg City and ICÔNE in Belval. With its central location in the heart of the strategic development zone Belval, its accessibility, its concept favouring new ways of working and its high environmental quality, ICÔNE was the best choice".

Designed in collaboration with internationally renowned architect Foster + Partners and Luxembourg's Beiler François Fritsch, the office building differentiates itself by its architectural and technical qualities, but above all by its pioneering concept.

"At BESIX RED, well-being, health and customer experience are a major focus in our developments, whether they be residential, offices or commercial. Since its conception three years ago, ICÔNE has been designed as a collaborative building, focusing on users and their well-being and in line with the New Ways of Working. With its concept, interior layout and ambitious architecture, ICÔNE responds, even more today, to the needs of the post-COVID tertiary users", explained Gabriel Uzgen, Managing Director of BESIX RED.

In addition to the so-called "classic" offices, various spaces are dedicated to co-working or to certain forms of "nomadism" and are no longer dedicated to specific activities or users.

Architecturally, ICÔNE has been designed from the inside to the outside, with an emphasis on informal places for exchange, which recreate links and reconnect users. Its many common spaces will be bathed in natural light thanks to its glass façade and the large glass roof of the central atrium, which connects its two wings.

ICONE will be BREEAM "Excellent"-certified and will be based on the “WELL-Building Standard”.

Under construction since June 2020, ICÔNE will welcome the bank’s employees in the course of 2023.

CBRE Luxembourg accompanied BESIX RED in the completion of this lease agreement. Frank Rosenbaum, Executive Director of CBRE Luxembourg, added: "This excellent transaction that we were able to carry out alongside BESIX RED in perfect symbiosis with Société Générale Luxembourg, is completely in line with the evolution of the new mixed and urban district of Belval".