New AGC Glass Europe headquarters will be built at Louvain-la-Neuve

The lease has run out on its historic building in Boitsfort (Brussels), and so for economic as well as functional reasons AGC Glass Europe is building a new headquarters in Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium, according to a May 27 release. As of 2013, this will house all the group’s management and administrative departments, many of which are at the moment scattered around the country.

The choice has been dictated by the opportunity to house some 500 people in the same
building and to reduce real estate costs, thanks to the less expensive location and the
modular design of the new building. Louvain-la-Neuve is actually on the edge of the greater
Brussels conurbation, and at the same time it has the additional advantage of being fairly close to various glass production sites. It also lies at the heart of the dynamic cluster of companies, local facilities and university institutions, some of them open to the general public. Finally, it is served by an efficient communications network (motorway, rail and the future RER rapid transit system), which members of personnel will be strongly encouraged to make use of, according to the release.

Architects and designers from all over Europe have been invited to take part in a design and
construction competition for the new headquarters. AGC Glass Europe wants to make its new building a leading example of glass at the service of innovation and sustainable development. Accordingly it has laid down five conditions that will test the creativity and expertise of participants in the competition. The building must:
· be “zero energy”;
· be timeless in its design, immune to the vagaries of architectural fashions;
· promote informal meetings, communication and discussion;
· support the positioning of AGC in terms of innovation;
· make use of the wide range of architectural and decorative glass produced by AGC
Glass Europe.

Representing an investment of around € 29 million, the new headquarters should be ready to welcome its first occupants in the first half of 2013. AGC Glass Europe will take care to offer its personnel a work environment and conditions that combine flexibility with efficiency, according to the release.