The Switch - Infrabel's Headquarters | Wallonie-Bruxelles Architectures

Project: The Switch - Infrabel's Headquarters
Architect: ArtBuild Architects

Momentary association

ArtBuild / GAF / Sweco

Programme

Construction of Infrabel’s new headquarters in Brussels.

16 floors and 36,000 m² / Timber construction to minimize its carbon footprint / Target certification: BREEAM Outstanding

About

In 2019, the architects from ArtBuild (Brussels, Paris, Luxembourg) and Gortemaker Algra Feenstra Architects (Rotterdam), in association with the engineering firm SGI (now Sweco), won the competition for the construction of Infrabel’s new headquarters in Brussels.

The project is remarkable in more ways than one, whether through its iconic presence at the entrance to the city, in the immediate vicinity of Brussels-South Station, or through its exemplary approach to sustainable development and circular economy.

The architects drew on their extensive experience in designing tailor-made office buildings with a strong focus on environmental performance, as well as their expertise in sophisticated technical facilities, as the building will house a major infrastructure component: the control room for all railway lines in Belgium.

The architectural design of the project, named “The Switch” - its layout evoking a railway switch - is deliberately holistic, in the sense that it synthesizes multiple concerns across different scales:

At the scale of the planet: the 16-storey, 36,000 m² building will notably be constructed in timber to minimize its carbon footprint;
At the scale of the city: initiating the essential transformation of the entire Brussels-South Station district;
At the human scale: creating the conditions for individual and collective fulfilment within an organization, in this specific case supporting the transformation of Infrabel’s corporate culture toward a new way of working.

The BMA team, appointed by Infrabel to oversee the competition, made the bold choice of a timber construction project - a strong signal in a real estate context that has been slow to embrace the paradigm shift in construction methods required by the climate emergency.