On Monday 27 June 2016, Luxembourg Ministers François Bausch and Felix Braz laid the first stone of the fifth extension of the Palais building of the Court of Justice of the European Union.

The new tower will be 30 storeys high and, at 115m tall, will be 15m taller than the existing two towers; it will have a capacity for 750 staff to work there and will have a 220-space car-park. The total cost of the project is €168.7 million and is expected to be operational in July 2019.

Faced with a growth of judicial activity and the number of its members, and to terminate the lease of two buildings housing provisionally some of its services, the Court decided to undertake the construction of a third tower. The entire project for the 5th extension to the Court contains two nested sets that make up the tower and the base. The facades of the first "golden" component are composed of vertical modules. Moreover, the golden mesh is integrated into facades as per the other two towers.

The second component is characterised by black facades, here called "mirror fronts", which are also composed of 120cm wide modules. A gate is formed by the opaque parts of black glazed glass that surround the transparent portions. The facade of the new tower remains a safe distance from the existing two towers to ensure the quality of natural lighting in all offices.

The energy concept of the third tower was designed to result in a building with very low energy demand generated by energy efficient production techniques. "So, thanks to the district heating system and the performance of technical equipment, the building achieved AAA energy certification class, liability level and is also the excellent level specific to the BREEAM environmental label" said Minister Bausch. "The study of different technologies of renewable energies led to the decision for the installation of photovoltaic panels in the roof and facade with a real economic and environmental benefits to produce some of the electricity demand of the tower."

Minister Felix Braz recalled that the Court of Justice is particularly close to his heart because it is the symbol building designed by architects made with expert hands. "Luxembourg is the capital of European law. We have worked under the Luxembourg Presidency and we managed to reach a political agreement on reform of the Court which is already being put in place."

Photo by MDDI (L-R): Koen Lenaerts, President of the Court; Minister François Bausch; Minister Félix Braz