ArcelorMittal presented the state of work on its new headquarters on 26 September. The project began in 2017, with the foundation stone laid on 26 June 2023, and will be delivered in July 2027. Vijay Goyal, executive vice president of the steel group, explained that this is a project with a strong symbolic meaning. He emphasised the historical and continuing link between Luxembourg and the steel industry, noting that the grand duchy’s early prosperity was based on iron ore, and that the steel sector was crucial to post-war reconstruction in Europe. “It is a source of pride for ArcelorMittal, the world leader in steel and mining, to continue this legacy. Luxembourg is our home. This new headquarters is a symbol of our ambition, our resilience and the transformation of the company. It incorporates cutting-edge technology, sustainable design--built with the lowest carbon footprint steel--and aims to create an inspiring workspace for the future.”
The steelmaker has made it a point of honour to only use steel manufactured in Luxembourg at Differdange and Belval. High-tech steels such as XCarb, a recycled and renewable steel used for 95% of the structure and forming the building's exoskeleton. The building also embodies Steligence, ArcelorMittal's in-house design philosophy, which combines sustainability, innovation and flexibility in large-scale construction, integrating steel, glass and green spaces. “Smarter steels for people and planet,” the steelmaker’s credo, will have been respected.
Business card
A declaration of love for Luxembourg and a technological business card that comes at a price with a construction cost that Goyal currently estimates at €4,000 per square metre. For the record, the building will offer 84,000m2 of gross floor area from a 90,000m2 site.
The history of this project has not been an easy one. The project was launched in 2017 with the first excavations. By this stage, 125,000 cubic metres of stone and earth will have been excavated. The project soon ran into economic and health problems. Covid forced the initiators of the project to adapt. In October 2022--the planned handover date--a new schedule had to be put in place. “A schedule that will be respected,” insists Goyal. Above all, the economic situation has forced the steelmaker to scale down the project. Half of the surface area has been sold to the government for €273.5m “at actual open-book construction costs, with no margin for ArcelorMittal Kirchberg Real Estate.” A takeover that caused coughs on the opposition benches in the Chamber of Deputies at the time. And now the steelmaker is looking to rent out two floors on the remaining half of the site. Calling all takers!
Steel at the heart of everything
The French architectural firm Wilmotte & Associés was commissioned to design the headquarters for the steelmaker. The specifications call for “a contemporary and sustainable building that exploits the full potential of steel from floor to ceiling.” Jean-Michel Wilmotte, who was present, emphasised the desire to create an emblematic symbol in the heart of the city, embodied by the massive use of steel, the company’s DNA. Steel is omnipresent in the form of an exoskeleton that will remain visible once the work is finished. “This exoskeleton maximises natural light and the flexibility of the interior spaces thanks to 20-metre beams. The building is also designed to be open to the city, incorporating services accessible to the public, symbolising the company’s exchange and dialogue.”
Pierre Engel, head of the ArcelorMittal HQ construction project, emphasised the project’s multimodal approach, with car parks and a tramway service, its extensive use of insulating glazing and its efforts to minimise its carbon footprint. The building is certified BREEAM Exceptional, DGNB Gold and WELL Gold. The use of steel allows “office floors 20 metres wide with no intermediate columns. This creates an ultra-flexible building.”
From mid-October onwards, we will see scales blooming on the K22. These are glass panels specially treated to be self-cleaning, which will continue the monolithic, structural glass façade. There will be 1,000 of them. The highlight will be a 60-metre-high atrium with aerial walkways.
This article was originally published in French.