After two years of construction work, the former IBM Tower in Brussels' Northern Quarter re-opened on Wednesday under a new name.
The building has a wide range of new functions, hailing the start of what authorities hope to be a new era for the neighbourhood.
The emblematic building in Saint-Josse-ten-Noode has officially opened as the Victoria Tower.
The 22-story building, first opened in 1978 to serve as the Belgian headquarters of the American multinational IBM, will now house the new headquarters of the WPP media group, the first branch of The Hoxton hotel chain in Belgium offering 198 rooms, workspaces, two restaurants, and a rooftop bar.
"The opening of the hotel and the dynamism of the teams are a real asset for the municipality of Saint-Josse-ten-Noode," Emir Kir, the municipality's mayor, said. The hotel already opened its doors on 22 May, and its rooftop with views of the city is already proving popular with Brussels residents.
The rooftop on the recently opened Victoria Tower. Credit: Gregory Van Gansen/Imagetting
Kir explained that, by collaborating with the hotel and the Mission Locale de Saint-Josse, it is "actively supporting the hotel industry, which creates many jobs."
"This collaboration testifies to a common drive to ensure the prosperity and development of our citizens by contributing to the quality of life and attractiveness of the northern district that the municipality has been pursuing in recent years."
Gentrification or revitalisation?
The opening of the tower is in line with a wider redevelopment of the area. It is hoped the creation of a hotel and offices here will ensure "social control," which would help meet the need for security, a central issue in the currently monofunctional Northern Quarter, Kir explained.
The area is architecturally seen as an urban tragedy – one of the most prominent victims of 1960s Brusselization, as part of efforts to transform it into a business district, much of which is derelict today.
A campaign will soon be launched to improve its reputation and make the area "hip" again.
The Victoria Tower is located near Botanique and the North Station. Credit: 51N4E
"The district is going to become a mixed neighbourhood with a lot more housing, a tram, more connectivity, greenery and cultural activities," Pascal Smet (Vooruit), Brussels Secretary of State for Town Planning, said, adding that the transformation of the Victoria Tower into a place where people will both work and relax already fits perfectly into this strategy.
Kir stressed, meanwhile, that the revitalisation of the Northern Quarter cannot be achieved without taking into account the residents and their living environment, but that it is also not possible by concentrating low incomes in the same district. "There has to be a balance, what we call social diversity, and I think we can achieve it with ambitious projects like this, which will attract other types of population."
(Re)writing history
The refurbishment of the new tower, led by Brussels-based architectural firm 51N4E, transforms it into a hybrid, fossil-free, low-energy construction. It is built on its original structure to retain its main features and appearance, "giving continuity to the building" by offering it a second life.
Locally sourced building materials were used, while the bureau claims the building does not use fossil fuels, instead relying on power produced by the newly-installed solar panels, resulting in the new tower receiving the 'Excellent in use' certification from BREEAM, which is the world's leading science-based certification system for sustainably built environments.
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"The revaluation of the iconic IBM tower shows a future that seeks to build on something valuable from the past, that brings diversity, that is accessible to many, that engages with a neighbourhood, that contributes to the attractive metropolis of Brussels and that is sustainable because we are sparing of our natural resources," architect Johan Anrys said.
"This renewed Metropolitan Hybrid writes history in a modest way," he concluded.
