Rogier Tower

The Rogier Tower (French: Tour Rogier, Dutch: Rogiertoren) is a skyscraper located in the Northern Quarter central business district of Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, Brussels (Belgium). It owes its name to Charles Rogier Square on which it is situated. It was formerly known as the Dexia Tower after Dexia bank, but that bank fell victim to the 2007–2012 global financial crisis and the tower's name was changed on 1 March 2012.[5] As Dexia moved its offices in Brussels to the Bastion Tower in Ixelles, Belfius and its subsidiaries are the only occupants of this tower, often also called the Belfius Tower. It is the fourth tallest building in Belgium.

Rogier Tower
The Rogier Tower on Rogier Square
General information
TypeOffice
AddressCharles Rogier Square
B-1210 Saint-Josse-ten-Noode
Town or cityCity of Brussels, Brussels-Capital Region
CountryBelgium
Coordinates50°51′23″N 4°21′33″E
Construction started2002
Completed2006
OpeningNovember 21, 2006[1]
Height
Roof137 metres (449 ft)[2][3]
Technical details
Floor count38[2][1]
Floor area111,903 m2 (1,204,510 sq ft)[3]
Design and construction
ArchitectPhilippe Samyn and Partners, M. & J.M. Jaspers - J. Eyers & Partners
References
[4]

It is built on the site of the Rogier International Centre (French: Centre International Rogier, Dutch: Internationaal Rogiercentrum), also called the Martini Tower, which was formerly the tallest building in Belgium, but was demolished in 2001.[3] Constructed between 2002 and 2006, the Rogier Tower is 137 metres (449 ft) tall. It was originally planned to be 179 metres (587 ft) tall, but the proposal was rejected because the height was thought to be excessive.[3] The Rogier Tower is also one of the few towers in Brussels whose roof is not horizontal, instead being made up of three inclined sections. It is also one of the only towers in the world to have a fully glass roof.

Lighting
The Rogier Tower from the south during a light show

The building has 6,000 windows, and 4,200 of these are equipped with an average of 12 light bulbs, each having a red, green and blue LED, allowing a broad palette of colours to be formed. These are lit up to form colourful displays, with each window acting as a pixel. To minimise power consumption, the LEDs only illuminate the outside of the closed blinds, and the reflection off the blinds illuminates the window.[1]

Initially, the displays were just abstract patterns or the temperature, but on special occasions and major holidays, customised displays were shown. Following the late-2000s recession, the lighting was greatly reduced, and the displays were on for only 10 minutes an hour.[1] As from 2015, Belfius reactivated the lighting, especially for special occasions such as the Belgian Pride, the Special Olympics, the Olympic Games, Rode Neuzen Dag (Red Nose Day), Viva for Life or the Belgian National Day on 21 July. Belfius was involved in several of these occasions as sponsor or as co-organiser.

See also

References
  1. "Dexiatower". Dexia. 2009. Archived from the original on February 9, 2012. Retrieved August 9, 2009.
  2. Dexia Tower at Emporis
  3. "Dexia Tower, Brussels". SkyscraperPage. Retrieved August 10, 2009.
  4. Rogier Tower at Emporis
  5. "Rogier (Dexia) Tower to be sold?". Pro-RealEstate.be. March 20, 2012. Retrieved May 25, 2012.

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