Madou Plaza Tower

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Madou Plaza Tower

Tour Madou Plaza (French)
Madoutoren (Dutch)


Madou viewed from Brussels Park
Building
Type Offices
Location Brussels, Belgium
Owner European Commission
Construction
Completed 1965
Height 120m (building)
135m (antenna)
Floor Count 33
Floor Area 40,0000m²
Main Contractor Herpain Entreprise s.a.
Design Team
Architect Robert Goffaux
Awards and Prizes MIPIM 2006 (refurbished office buildings)

Madou Plaza Tower is a high-rise building in Brussels (Belgium). It was built in 1965 and renovated between 2002 and 2006 and taken over by the European Commission. It is located at the Small Ring, in the Saint-Josse-ten-Noode municipality, the poorest in Belgium, at 1 Place Madouplein.

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[edit] Architecture

The 33 story core of Madou was built in just over a month and has been compared as a smaller version of the MetLife Building in New York City. There is a high voltage transformer in the basement for power, along with a 1360 kW emergency generator added during renovation. Two lifts connect to the parking garage.

During the 2002-6 renovation, the buildings height was increased from 112m to 120 m and office space was increased by 10,000m² to 40,000m² requiring the building to be reshaped and strengthened. The renovation won the MIPIM Award 2006 in the ‘Refurbished Office Buildings’ category.

[edit] Commission

The European Commission bought the building on 13 March 2006 inaugurating it on the 19th of April when its 1500 employees moved in. Staff were previously based on the Axa-building on Schumanplein, which was to be demolished. Based in Madou, as of 2007, are the Directorates-General for Communication, Informatics, and Education and Culture and the Executive Agency for Competitiveness and Innovation.

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