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Fig. 13 | 01-494 | Block C of the Résidence Palace (european Council) | Brussels | 2005-2015
aGC GLaSS BuILDING
AGC GLASS started producing its extra-clear Clearvision glass in late 2006. Featuring high colour rendering and light transmittance coef cients, this glass admirably rounded off the components available for sophisticated double skins, louvres and light shelves.
At the same time, my scienti c and technical work with Glaverbel (now AGC GLASS) researchers and engineers was developing, creating a spirit of trust between us.Though obviously my primary focus is on developing and perfecting technologies for my pro- jects or the industry, I have rarely been able to bene t from such exceptional trust as found at AGC Glass, and we ended up jointly producing my ENI louvres, a development successfully concluded in the AGC Glass Building.
Though new technological progresses of various kinds now enable us to envisage major improvements to the system and a signi cant reduction in its cost, this is something to be told at a later date.
Looking at the building’s structure, its purity – forgive me for using such an absolute term, but in my mind it is appropriate – owes much to the openness and competence of the teams from the con- struction company, Van Roey. It is rare to be able to work in such harmony with a company, moreover our client, and I would like to take this opportunity to express not only my gratitude but also my admiration.
Facade and structural concepts are closely linked to a building’s physics and to their technical facilities, and the following text is very explicit on this subject.
But architecture is not limited to a building’s envelope, its structure and technical facilities, nor can it be reduced to the production
of drawings and their on-site execution. Architecture is all about teamwork, and in the case of the AGC Glass Building, this was magni cent, with all those involved constantly interacting with each other and combining their skills to achieve a result exceeding the sum of its parts.
Though the building in question bears my signature, its archi- tecture is the fruit of working with Bernard Van Damme (BEAI),
just as its execution is the fruit of my work with Ghislain André (Philippe Samyn and Partners). Andrew Janssens (FTI), responsible for building services engineering, Filip Descamps and Paul Mees (Daidalos Peutz) for the building physics, Ben Verbeeck and Ronny Van hee (Jan Meijer Engineering) for the structural engineering, are further engineers who greatly contributed to constructing the AGC Glass Building.
Georges Meurant’s colour schemes, now a feature of many of my projects, the landscaping work of Erik Dhont who had already shown how well he understood my intentions when he worked
for me on the Groenhoven Castle project in Malderen (1997-1999 [01/352]), and the interior design work – in particular the restaurant – of Dominique hottois and Leslie Maes all harmonize perfectly with the project.
Fig. 14 | 01-375 | Headquarters of ente Nazionale Idrocarburi (eNI) | Rome (Italy) | 1998
Fig. 15 | 01-489 | Office refurbishment | marnixlaan | Brussels | 2004-2009
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