Sustainable transformation
Sustainable transformation
Victory’s belief in ‘renovation not demolition’ aligns perfectly with Icon’s fundamental belief in sustainable transformation.
As plans go, this one was ambitious. We wanted to create the best building in Brussels and to achieve a net zero status. An environmentally conscious building with heart and soul.
Icon put together a dream team of partners to turn our vision into reality. And together, we pulled it off.
Energy usage
Manhattan’s sustainability credentials are seriously impressive. It achieved net zero in construction and we’re well on our way to achieving the same distinction in day-to-day operations. To hit that net zero goal we’ve partnered with i.Leco to integrate a smart AI app with the building’s management system.
From booking meeting rooms to facilitating hourly energy tariffs (automatically trading energy, depending on real-time demand), the app significantly reduces energy consumption and costs.
Air quality
When it comes to staff wellbeing, workplace air quality is now a greater concern than it ever was. But even before the Covid-19 pandemic, we were well ahead of the curve. Manhattan was the first building in continental Europe to receive an AirRated Platinum accreditation. A score only awarded to 5% of all buildings surveyed.
Overcoming challenges
Looking at Manhattan today, it’s difficult to grasp the trials and tribulations we had to go through. Working in a dense urban environment meant huge volumes of traffic – and a metro station directly below us. It also meant working in a bustling neighborhood, limited space to work, and even less space for storage. Besix’s ‘just-in-time’ process (making only what was needed, when it was needed), helped overcome many of the challenges and streamline the workflow.
Value-added ecosystem
Value-added ecosystem
Icon has turned Manhattan into a business environment unlike anywhere else in Brussels. Nothing looks, feels or behaves quite like it.
Often imitated, never equaled. Manhattan’s ecosystem offers tenants and their visitors an unrivalled range of amenities. It also gives its owner, Victory, a range of extra income sources.
Manhattan Meeting Center, Lincoln Auditorium, M Studio (executive gym), Delhaize supermarket and Manhattan’s car parking are all incredibly popular. And four high-end restaurants and bars are also a huge pull.
Like the rest of the building, getting the food and beverage offering right was hugely challenging. The F&B floor sits at the intersection of nearly all of the ducts and shafts that serve the office tower above. This meant that in some places, the floor-to-ceiling height was only 2.1m.
No stranger to the ‘impossible’, we worked with Creneau International to come up with creative solutions to whatever problems were thrown at us. Icon’s transformations are renowned for their fine dining and intimate cafés, there was no way that this building’s would be any less than exceptional.
Manhattan’s range of business, dining, wellbeing, retail and commuter amenities put it head and shoulders above anything else in Brussels. It’s the sort of place people love to work and show off to their visitors.
Flexibility
Flexibility
Icon has made Manhattan as flexible a proposition as possible, from both an accommodation and leasing perspective. You could say we’ve bent over backwards for our tenants.
Efficient, spacious and comfortable; the office floors can be adapted for a high number of fixed workstations in all sorts of layouts. Winter gardens and internal staircases also allow tenants to connect floors, creating a fully integrated, collaborative workplace feel.
Flexibility goes even further than on-floor efficiencies. Tenants can take advantage of a full ecosystem of shared amenities – breakout spaces, informal and formal meeting rooms. Places to work and socialize together, for better teamwork and overall wellbeing.
As with everything at Manhattan, this forward-thinking approach is great for everyone who works here, and it also makes good business sense. Shared, high-quality amenities offer cost savings and make the space much more attractive to staff. This flexibility also creates the best environment to plan a safe return to work after the pandemic.
Having listened to tenants’ needs, our leasing options have been adapted to provide lots of flexibility. This ensures that Manhattan is the best business space today, tomorrow and way into the future.
Tenants can easily expand their businesses into adjacent spaces or contract, whenever they need to. This gives companies the ability to quickly modify their strategies, flowing effortlessly with market trends, yet remaining in a truly inspiring work environment. Co-working space within the building also means that project teams can be accommodated on-site, but away from a tenant’s core space. This allows autonomy, but with the ability to collaborate easily.
Conclusion
Conclusion
There is a philosophy or ‘brand promise’ behind everything we do, and the way we do it. Manhattan is a great example of this philosophy in action.
This can be summed up by four guiding principals:
– More than buildings
– Part of the community
– Working with the environment
– Flexibility makes things better
We create dynamic ecosystems that, together with the people who work there, have an important part to play. They are catalysts for societal change and set the highest standards for building renovation. Just as importantly, we are here for our tenants, doing whatever we can to help their businesses thrive.
Manhattan has taken Icon’s philosophy to heart and revolutionized the tenant experience. The pandemic has been a perfect test of its reputation as ‘the best building in Brussels’. A space that delivers – whatever life throws at it.
Its flexibility, range of amenities and future-proof design principals have won through, providing a safe and inspiring space to return to.
Despite the ever-changing external environment, employers can guarantee a best-in-class workspace for their teams. The sort of place that says a lot about their organization – its attitude to staff, the local community and environmental sustainability. The sort of place that attracts and retains the very best people.
Design by
Social Impact
Social Impact
We are proud of the transformation we’ve achieved at Manhattan; a cutting-edge environment for businesses in Brussels, like no other. But no building is an island.
Manhattan is part of a wider social ecosystem. We believe it is our responsibility to look beyond our own walls. To think about the impact we can have on the communities we operate in.
The Icon Forum at Manhattan is a powerful vehicle to help everyone give back to our community. It combines the skills and knowledge of the Icon team, our tenants, friends and neighbors, all planning and working together. Inspiring social change and making a real, tangible difference.
Initiatives already undertaken include providing local school children with laptops in the pandemic and funding a community kitchen and filming equipment for local frontline charity, Inser’Action.
We’re all part of this thing we call society, and everyone can do their bit. That’s why we set up the Icon Forum at the Manhattan building in Brussels. And why we’re doing the same with all of our new projects. We’re excited to see new social impact initiatives, currently in planning stages, rolled out in the near future.