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BÜRO UND VERWALTUNG • OFFICE BUILDINGS INNERE WERTE • INNER VALUES

15 Besprechungszimmer gehören zum Service, ... • 15 meeting rooms are part of the service, …

Helle Arbeitsplätze mit Blick auf den Sonienwald • Bright workstations with a view of the Sonian Forest ... sie sind klassisch, schlicht und schnörkellos. • ... they are classic, unpretentious and without frills.

T he name of the Fosbury & Sons company pays homage to Dick Fosbury. In 1968 Offices in Brodzki’s concrete brutalism
and with the Fosbury Flop he himself had invented, the US-American high jum-
per succeeded in achieving a new Olympic record in Mexico-City. No less than 2.24 South of Brussels in the community of Watermael-Boitsfort which has approximately
metres! The bar had never before been that high! To this day, a modified form of the 25,000 inhabitants and belongs to the Brussels capital region, Fosbury & Sons dis-
technique which now bears his name forever is standard in high jump. Analogous covered an old building with an enormous amount of potential: meaning the head-
to this model in sports, Fosbury & Sons wants to play a pioneering role in what, so quarters of the CBR cement manufacturer built in 1970. It goes without saying that,
far, has been unconventional and thus break new ground in the world of work. Be- at that time, Constantin Brodzki had designed the sculptural office building of con-
fore even starting out, the Belgian provider of co-working spaces and serviced of- crete exclusively. Characteristic features of the construction are the 756 sculpturally
fices had focused intensely on the topic of workstations. The three founders Stijn modelled pre-fabricated concrete components of the façade with their large, roun-
Geeraets, Maarten Van Gool and Serge Hannecart came to the conclusion that many ded window elements. The individual modules interlock like waves. The aura of the
offices are still steeped in the grey, traditional working atmosphere of the 1960s. building is based on this as simple as it is striking façade structure. Today, the buil-
These offices, they found, have been obsolete for a long time when it comes to the ding sculpture looks as modern as it did then. The New York Museum of Modern Art
organization and the atmosphere and were also unproductive instead of having a was likewise impressed at that time. As the only Belgian architect, the MoMA invited
motivating and inspiring effect. And this despite that fact that for 78 percent of the Brodzki in 1979 to participate in the exhibition entitled “Transformations in Modern
millennials – born in the 1980s and 1990s – the quality of the office plays a decisive Architecture”. The nine-storey two-slab high-rise building is a landmark and is loca-
role whenever they are choosing an employer. Fosbury & Sons mention the quality ted at the Sonian Forest. On a total of 7,000 square metres distributed over seven of
of working and that of living in one breath. With its serviced offices and co-working the nine levels, Going East now designed privately and jointly usable offices for Fos-
spaces in Antwerp and Watermael-Boitsfort near Brussels, the office provider pur- bury & Sons. The office founded by the interior designers Anaïs Torfs and Michiel
sues the aim of creating a “renaissance of work” for lone fighters, start-ups, entre- Mertens intervened as little as possible in the existing building stock since Brodzki’s
preneurs as well as large and small companies. All those who become part of the heritage came with an impressive richness of detail as regards the interiors. Together
F&S Community benefit from fully equipped workstations, can profit from the ser- with the delicately structured concrete surfaces, now tables, sideboards and shelves
vices and participate in network-internal events. made of wood produce a very high-quality office ambience. “Mature and warm”, as

152 • AIT 4.2019