Madou Plaza Tower, Modern office skyscraper in Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, Belgium.
Madou Plaza Tower is a modern office building in Saint-Josse-ten-Noode featuring 33 floors above ground and several levels below street level. The structure is fully serviced with multiple elevators and contains extensive office space across its height.
Robert Goffaux designed the first tower, built from 1963 to 1965 for Assurances Générales and inspired by New York's MetLife Building. Its reinforced concrete core was erected in 35 days using sliding formwork. The 2002–2006 renovation by Assar and Archi 2000 pushed the facade out 90 cm, added a triangular graft and a 14-storey rear annex, and raised the height to 120 metres.
The ground floor housed the Maison de Russie from 1966 to 1990, a Soviet showcase where Brussels residents came to buy vodka. The tower was renamed Madou Plaza in 1988, and since 2012 it has hosted the European Commission's Directorate-General for Competition.
The tower stands at 1, place Madou on the Small Ring, in Saint-Josse-ten-Noode. It is an occupied European Commission office building, so the interior and the ground-floor auditorium are not open to visitors; the curved blue glass facade and the "BANCO TOTTA & ACORES" sign at its base are seen from the street. The 2002 transformation created the rue Léopold Lenders behind the tower, where the underground parking entrance now lies.
The tower's central concrete core was poured in just 35 days using slip forms on jacks, and the original facade was made of 1.62-metre anodised aluminium modules with light-grey glazing. From 1966 to 1990 the ground floor housed the Maison de Russie, a Soviet showcase where Brussels residents came to buy vodka.
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