Press release - MIPIM

In Cannes at the MIPIM international real estate fair, during the official MIPIM Awards ceremony yesterday evening, Brussels project Greenbizz, developed by citydev.brussels and designed by Brussels architects architectesassoc. was one of the finalists in the Best Industrial and Logistics Development category.

Greenbizz stood out thanks to—among other things—its atypical function: it boasts 8,000 m² dedicated to sustainable economy companies. Its unique infrastructure comprised of workshops and an incubator provides innovative projects with room to grow at a stimulating, environmentally conscious location. This way, the project encourages cross-pollination, working in communities, and the emergence of the makers of tomorrow. It offers a unifying perspective on the entrepreneurship of the future.

Its assignment of creating responsible employment, its dynamic, permeable organization, and its clearly expressed sustainable identity all convey one and the same message: sustainable construction should be about so much more than about energy efficiency and ecological material sourcing. Sustainable construction should be about giving rise to hope. Thus, Greenbizz is a catalyst for collective emulation and civic engagement.

Greenbizz is part of the large-scale Tivoli GreenCity project located in Brussels between Rue Dieudonné Lefèvre, Rue de Molenbeek, Rue Claessens, and Rue du Tivoli. This project, conceived and helmed by citydev.brussels, is to become the new trailblazing neighbourhood where sustainable development and social and functional mix in an urban environment are concerned. It will also sport 400 housing units (2/3 medium-income owner-occupied homes, 1/3 social housing) as well as two day-care centres.

“citydev.brussels is honoured with its spot on the MIPIM Awards podium. For our institution, this is the fruit of many years’ work and reflection on urban integration, sustainable development, and diversity,” says Denis Grimberghs, chairman of citydev.brussels. “Greenbizz is the first step towards a new way of thinking about housing and the economy at the heart of a city as dense as Brussels. We hope our project will become an example worth following for future projects in an urban environment.”

With its built and non-built volumes, architectesassoc.’s vision embodies the project being positioned as an example. Located in a high-mix area along the canal, its new public square, its covered open-air streets and its communal areas are a powerful expression of the desire for openness and dialogue, given shape by buildings capable of stimulating urban regeneration in this strategic area.

Architects Sabine Leribaux and Marc Lacour explain: “Even though sustainability requirements are essential to determining the construction and technical principles for such designs, Greenbizz’s key challenge entails a lot more than coming up with new innovations in energy efficiency, for example. More specifically, the challenge is to trigger dreams and ambitions in a part of town brimming with the huge potential diversity offers: it is about bringing to light and fostering human energy.”