The Finance Tower (; ) is a
skyscraper
A skyscraper is a tall continuously habitable building having multiple floors. Most modern sources define skyscrapers as being at least or in height, though there is no universally accepted definition, other than being very tall high-rise bui ...
in the
Northern Quarter central business district
A central business district (CBD) is the Commerce, commercial and business center of a city. It contains commercial space and offices, and in larger cities will often be described as a financial district. Geographically, it often coincides wit ...
of
Brussels
Brussels, officially the Brussels-Capital Region, (All text and all but one graphic show the English name as Brussels-Capital Region.) is a Communities, regions and language areas of Belgium#Regions, region of Belgium comprising #Municipalit ...
, Belgium. It was designed by the architects Hugo Van Kuyck, Marcel Lambrichs and
Léon Stynen and built between 1968 and 1982. The height of the building is , and it has 36 floors. It is the
second tallest building in Belgium after the
South Tower, and has the most office space of any building in Belgium.
The Finance Tower is situated to the crossroads of the
Boulevard du Jardin botanique/Kruidtuinlaan and the
Rue Royale/Koningsstraat. It is served by many public transit systems, including
Botanique/Kruidtuin metro station and
Brussels-Central and
Brussels-North railway stations.
History
Purpose
The Finance Tower is part of a wider body: the State Administrative Centre ( or CAE, or RAC), a complex in the
International Style
The International Style is a major architectural style and movement that began in western Europe in the 1920s and dominated modern architecture until the 1970s. It is defined by strict adherence to Functionalism (architecture), functional and Fo ...
whose objective was to group together the country's public administration in order to increase productivity and to reduce the functioning wastes. The site was preferred because of its ease of access, most notably with the proximity of
Brussels-Central railway station. On top of this, the works of the
North–South connection made the neighbourhood lifeless, and it was necessary to recreate a liaison between the upper and lower city.
Construction
The tower is located on a site with a difference between the highest and lowest altitudes. Producing the preliminary documents took nearly four years, from 1968 to 1972. Searches were performed down to a depth of . The building of the foundations was made difficult by the presence of a water-logged clay terrain as well as by the tunnel of the North–South connection.
Budget restrictions slowed down the construction; work was practically paralysed from 1974 to 1978. The works resumed in 1978. Major work was finally finished in February 1981, but it was the end of 1983 before the tower at last opened its doors. Its external elevator core was intended to have had a marble façade, but this was scrapped because of the high cost.
Renovation (2005–2008)
The Finance Tower underwent a major renovation between January 2005 and 2008, planned by Maurice Mottle architects. The old façade was replaced with a light blue and white
curtain wall,
asbestos
Asbestos ( ) is a group of naturally occurring, Toxicity, toxic, carcinogenic and fibrous silicate minerals. There are six types, all of which are composed of long and thin fibrous Crystal habit, crystals, each fibre (particulate with length su ...
was removed, the external lift shaft was dismantled, and new lifts were built inside the building. The lost office space was compensated for by a new 11-storey building constructed to the east of the tower. The renovated building provides office space for 4,600 workers, an increase from the 3,200 prior to renovation.
The antenna, which is mounted on top of the tower, serves the two Belgian national television stations and is used only for digital broadcast.
Art
Right in front of the Finance Tower is the sculpture ''L'Âme Sentinelle'' by
Nat Neujean, depicting two females embracing. In individualistic Belgian fashion, this is rather an evocative and erotically themed sculpture.
One of the two women is more classically feminine in appearance, the other looks more like a man, though one quickly sees she also is female. The pose is enigmatic, with the shorter-haired woman firmly grasping the wrist of the longer-haired woman behind her back, almost wrestling her into submission, while both look away from each other despite being nude and intimate.
See also
*
Astro Tower
*
North Galaxy Towers
*
Madou Plaza Tower
The Madou Plaza Tower (; ) is a skyscraper in Brussels, Belgium. It was built in 1965, renovated between 2002 and 2006, and taken over by the European Commission. It is located on the Small Ring, Brussels, Small Ring (Brussels' inner ring road) ...
*
Proximus Towers
*
Rogier Tower
*
World Trade Center (Brussels)
References
External links
*
*
Finance Tower at Jaspers-Eyers Architects
{{Authority control
Skyscraper office buildings in Brussels
1982 establishments in Belgium
Office buildings completed in 1982