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Architects: Metaform Architects
- Area: 29825 m²
- Year: 2023
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Photographs:Steve Troes
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Lead Architects: GG Kirchner
Text description provided by the architects. HELIX. Luxembourg’s POST Headquarters is located in the heart of the country’s bustling Gare district, near the city’s central transport hub. Adjoining an existing heritage-listed block, the 27 700 m2 net floor area office HQ will house 850 employees and act as a new landmark for the country’s largest employer. It has been designed as a versatile user-friendly facility that brings together the company’s activities and functions under one roof to motivate employees and enable more creative connections. Democratic Design.
POST Luxembourg has an organizational structure that is built on clear communication between its different sectors. As a result, its HQ was designed to facilitate an open horizontal hierarchy that connects each department around a vast open atrium that spans the height of its interior. This central void hosts a spiral staircase that becomes a conduit for connections between the floors while also providing a link and an anchor for all the employees.
This zone is encased by a dedicated series of functions, from lounges and game rooms to wellness and fitness areas that allow users to congregate and communicate around a central hub. Different common areas where people can meet, work together, exchange ideas, cook, relax and do sports contribute to the overall well-being of employees.
Adaptive Reuse – Respecting the Architectural Heritage. Nestled into the site’s northern corner is the Accinauto building listed vestige of 1950s classic architecture. As a protected emblem of Luxembourg’s industrial past, its façade has been preserved and integrated into the new building along with the projection of its roof pitches. This colossal feat was achieved by reinforcing nearly 700 tonnes of foundations. To create a seamless integration between the existing listed building and the new HQ, the original pitched roof was extruded and morphed into a vertical façade along its parallel length.
This rotational folding of the roof form softens the monumental stone edge of the new construction but also merges with the alignment of the adjacent neighboring facades. Urban Oasis. While the building is surrounded by a dense urban fabric of traffic, noise, and transport, its interior harbors a tranquil sanctuary of gardens and paved spaces for its 850 employees to unwind.
How to create a zero-energy building? POST HQ has a goal to achieve DGNB platinum certification, which is one of the highest levels of environmental accreditation available. To meet these requirements, its design had to respect strict ecological construction criteria including the integration of air conditioning via active tiles, rainwater recovery, automated lighting management, and the use of natural materials.
To manage both cold and heat, the building will have neither air conditioning nor a boiler. Instead, it features a giant ice container (2,133 m3) and a heat recovery system from the POST Luxembourg data center, which is located behind the construction. The building will also be equipped with solar panels, rainwater collectors, and energy-efficient high-performance glazing.
