STATUS
IN CONSTRUCTION
CLIENT
LUX Airport
TYPOLOGY
Work
SIZE M2/FT2
78,479 / 844,748
SHARE
Located in Findel, Luxembourg, the Skypark Business Center (SBC) is situated within the Niederanven municipality adjacent to the Luxembourg Airport and is one of the key elements of the Airport City Masterplan.
The building comprised of timber in its upper structures, bridges and slabs features a long and slim footprint covering an area of ca. 19,000 m2. SBC makes full use of the allowed maximum building height of 30.5 m across seven floors, and is based on an ideal office bar typology measuring 17 m in width. Instead of one single zig-zag volume, as envisioned in the masterplan, BIG’s design consists of two stacked and rotated zig-zagging bars.
IDEAL OFFICE TYPOLOGY
— BIG based the design on an ideal office bar typology measuring 17 m in width, with workstation seating or enclosed office space on both sides, and a strip of core and support functions in the middle.
REQUIRED AREA
— Rather than a long bar, a 17 m zigzag along the entire length of the site gives more floor area and facades that area naturally lit, fulfilling the brief's requirement of 30,000 m2 across 3 floors.
DOUBLE UP
— BIG proposed to double up the zigzag volume to the maximum building height of 30.5 meters, effectively doubling the leasable office space to 60,000 m2.
ROTATE
— By rotating the top 3 floors 180 degrees, BIG provides accessible green terraces for the upper volume, whilst simultaneously creating intimate, welcoming entrance courtyards along the main road.
LIFT
— The whole building is lifted to create a porous and accessible ground floor level, fully open to the public. Pedestrians and drivers on the road will also have an immediate view towards airport's 4 km long runway.
EXTEND
— The lower volume is extended to create a connection towards the tunnel from Terminal A. The upper volume is extended to provide shelter and shade for the future bus stop.
PANORAMIC CORNERS
— The edges of the volumes are filleted to provide panoramic views, no dead-corners, and to resonate with the rest of the buildings in the masterplan.
3 LAYERS OF GREEN
— The final design is a beautiful, highly performative office building with 3 layers of roof terraces, providing users with abundant opportunities to enjoy the unique views whilst surrounded by lush greenery.
The design creates numerous outdoor spaces, exciting views from all angles, as well as highly flexible interior spaces. The entire volume forms an undulating wall in elevation, effectively performing as an acoustic barrier for the public space and further buildings in the Airport City.
SBC can be perceived as a sequence of distinct volumes, from the base up: the mineral parking plinth, the fully-glazed transparent and permeable ground floor, and the lower and upper rotated copper snaking across the different levels.
The rotation of the office volumes is central to the design concept, creating fantastic sculptural views from every angle while maximizing outdoor spaces. Green terraces are accessible every 50 meters, while intimate courtyards welcome visitors from along the main road.
The thin volume of the office bars allows every user to have an unobstructed view towards either the Luxembourg Airport’s runway or the Grand Ducal Golf Course. There are no dead corners within SBC; whenever the ‘snake’ turns, corners are softened and rounded to provide panoramic views and to resonate with the rest of the buildings in the masterplan.
This poetic play with the meandering volumes is combined with an efficient and flexible office layout. All cores are placed in the building sections where the two “snakes” overlap, enabling direct elevator access for every tenant.
A flexible system of continuous office floorplates makes it very simple to divide and subdivide the leasable area in order to cater to the needs of any tenant. Arriving on the northern side, generous, well-lit courtyards with lush front gardens welcome the visitor. Entering through a double door pill-portal, visitors access the permeable ground floor’s inner passage known as the Grande Galerie.
Located in the spine of the building, the spacious passage below the intertwining office volumes connects all cores, flanked on both sides with alternating programs such as restaurants, a fitness studio or retail. From here, one can step out onto the southern courtyards to enjoy the gardens and take in the unique view of the 4 km long runway.
At the east end, the ground floor enclosed by a lightweight canopy seamlessly connects Terminal A with the departure level. Here, visitors can also enjoy lunch or relax on the landscaped plaza.
On floor B1, travelers can pick up their vehicle from the car rental/valet service located in the connection bridge within minutes of arriving in Terminal A, and drive off directly with the utmost convenience. On the western end, the upper “snake” is extended and cantilevered out to provide shelter and shade, whilst simultaneously creating a striking symbolic entrance gesture to the Airport City for everyone coming from the Luxembourg city center.
The final design is a performative office building with three different levels of roof gardens, providing users with abundant opportunities to enjoy unique views and be surrounded by lush greenery.
Bjarke Ingels Finn Nørkjær Jakob Sand Matthew Thomson Francesca Portesine Albina Saifulina Alexa Haraga Alexander Dennis William Niemantsverdriet Alexandra Farmazon Alex Bogdan Ritivoi Alysia Lara Arnold Ana-Maria Vindfeldt Anders Fønss Andrea Hektor Andy Coward Anna Bertolazzi Andrea Angelo Suardi Anushka Pramod Karnawat Arielle Khosla Bart Ramakers Camille Breuil Cristina Giménez Dagmara Anna Obmalko Dag Præstegaard Dina Brændstrup Duncan Horswill Elisabetta Costa Enea Michelesio Eskild Schack Pedersen Eva Seo-Andersen Ewa Zapiec Filip Fot Filip Rozkowski Francois Ducatez Frederik Skou Jensen Gaurav Janey Gayathri Achuthankutty Geet Gawri Gerhard Pfeiler Gokce Naz Tercioglu Gustav Albert Perez Nordahl Helen Shuyang Chen Ivaylo Ignatov Jan Magasanik Jean Valentiner Strandholt Jesper Bo Jensen Jens Majdal Kaarsholm Jesper Kanstrup Petersen Jiyoon Lee Jonas Aarsø Larsen Joos Jerne Julius Victor Schneevoigt Kaoan Hengles De Lima Katrine Sandstrøm Kei Atsumi Kongphob Amornpatarasin Kristian Mousten Ksenia Zhitomirskaya Lasse Ryberg Hansen Laura Diaz Vizoso Liliana Cruz-Grimm Louise Mould Luca Pileri Mads Engaard Stidsen Magni Waltersson Mamak Mazaheri Martyna Kloda Matteo Baggiarini Melissa Andres Merve Kavas Mykolas Seckus Neringa Jurkonyte Nick Beissengroll Ningnan Ye Olivier Lamaignere Rafael Mitrosz Roberto Fabbri Roberto Outumuro Castro Santa Krieva Sascha Leth Rasmussen Sijia Zhong Tommy Bjørnstrup Tyrone Cobcroft Ulla Hornsyld Wiktor Kacprzak Xinyi Chen Yasmin Bianca Kobori Belck Ákos Márk Horváth Anne Søby Nielsen Weronica Zaborek Martyna Zychowska Katia Valenzuela Williams Jose Ignacio Balaguer Palacios Giovanni Salvatore Bitonti Alexandra-Madalina Nita Brian Malig Collado Hajar Kabbara Carl Pontus Timmerås Patrycja Pisarek Antonio Rajković
COLLABORATORS
AuCarre
Dr. Lüchinger+Meyer Bauingenieure AG
Jean Schmidt Engineering
Lamoureux
Les Eclaireurs
METAFORM
Phoenix Consult
Transsolar
TR Engineering
