Former Arbed seat ready for refurbishment

(CS/hpl) The former Luxembourg City headquarter of steel company Arbed, vacated by ArcelorMittal in 2012, is being refurbished before welcoming part of the BCEE's activities in the capital.

Giant scaffolding has gone up around the building, towering over one side to allow for a complete renovation of the roof. However, the look of the protected building will not change. Once insulation has been added, the same materials will be used to the tile the roof.

Listed as a national monument the historic building's exterior will be cleaned during the refurbishment. Interior design will also remain unchanged, except for some rewiring and the addition of several partition walls.

Following the refurbishment the “Banque et Caisse d'Epargne de l'Etat” (BCEE) – also known as “Spuerkees” - will move some of its activities to the Avenue de la Liberté building, located only a strone's throw away from the bank's seat up the road. Among other things, customer service is expected to be moved to the new site.

The former Arbed HQ was built between 1920 and 1922 and designed as the Luxembourg steel company's City seat. When Arbed became ArcelorMittal the company held on to the building alongside other offices, until the end of 2012 when it vacated the building. In 2014 it was announced that the company was putting the building up for sale.