On Monday 4 July 2016, the BNP Paribas Group in Luxembourg held the official inauguration of its 99,000 m2 surface area of new buildings in Kirchberg, in the presence of several government ministers and the mayor of Luxembourg city.

Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Economy, Étienne Schneider, Minister of Finance, Pierre Gramegna and Luxembourg City mayor, Lydie Polfer, all attended the opening of the new Centre Bancaire Kirchberg.

Covering a total surface area of 99,000 m2, the new Centre is comprised of the existing BGL BNP Paribas head-office building, as well as a new 6-storey structure on avenue J.F. Kennedy and a 14-storey building on rue Edward Steichen. The two new buildings, spread across 52,000 m2, share a common foundation that sits between the two roads and are also linked to the head-office building. The site is now a work space for nearly 3,500 employees.

"When works began in March 2013, the BNP Paribas Group in Luxembourg had several central buildings, not including some 40 branches in the BGL BNP Paribas network," Carlo Thill, Country Head of the BNP Paribas Group in Luxembourg, explained. "The goal of the construction project was to strengthen collaboration and synergies between employees from the majority of the Group's entities by bringing them together at the Kirchberg site. This large-scale project attests to the BNP Paribas Group's solid position in the Luxembourg economy and illustrates the Group's commitment to the development of the country's financial centre."

The buildings were designed by M3 Architectes in collaboration with the Goblet Lavandier engineering office and their construction involved some 50 companies, predominantly from Luxembourg and the Greater Region. The common green spaces between the three buildings were designed in line with the head-office gardens created by landscape architect Jacques Wirtz.

The BNP Paribas Group in Luxembourg claimed that the project had been designed with a strong emphasis on the environment, taking into account eco-friendly technologies and minimal consumption of energy and natural resources.

The Group explained that it is aiming for triple environmental certification at the European level, with DGNB in Germany, BREEAM in the UK and HQE in France. The construction of the project has already obtained the "HQE Exceptionnel" certification, which attests to a building's compliance with performance standards outlined in the 2012 technical framework for certification in the categories of energy, environment, health and comfort.

 

Photo by BNP Paribas Group (L-R): Carlo Thill, Country Head of BNP Paribas Group in Luxembourg and Chairman of the Executive Committee of BGL BNP Paribas; Lydie Polfer, Mayor of the City of Luxembourg; Xavier Bettel, Prime Minister; Etienne Schneider, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Economy; Pierre Gramegna, Minister of Finance; Etienne Reuter, Chairman of the Board of BGL BNP Paribas