Louis-Baudouin Decaix, Chairman of BNP Paribas Immobilier Promotion Immobilier d'Entreprise and Eric Lombard, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of BNP Paribas Assurance, presided over the cornerstone ceremony marking the beginning of work on the future headquarters of BNP Paribas Assurance on rue du Port in the Paris suburb of Nanterre. The ceremony was attended by Nanterre mayor Patrick Jarry and by Philippe Zivkovic, Chairman of the Management Board of BNP Paribas Real Estate.
The future headquarters of BNP Paribas Assurance is located on a former industrial site at the Nanterre port between the A86 highway and the Seine river, near the RER A suburban mass transit station. Managed by BNP Paribas Real Estate development teams, in close relations with BNP Paribas IMEX teams headed by Jean-Pierre Volmer, the project is certified to the French HQE standard (High Quality Environmental) and will offer an exceptional working environment. In 2011, BNP Paribas Assurance staff will move to their new offices in three distinct buildings at the site, each comprising six levels for a total of 69,000 square meters of net habitable space. The 3.2-hectare (8 acres) site includes 1.3 hectares (3.2 acres) of landscaped areas. Created by landscapers Christine and Michel Péna (Péna et Péna firm), the landscaping features water pools and a “theater of greenery”.The buildings are designed by architects Jean Mas and François Roux (Ateliers 2 3 4) and Didier Gomez (DGID) for the interior architecture. They include a 1,350-seat company restaurant, a brasserie, a fitness center, a conciergerie and a 300-seat auditorium. Workspaces have been designed to maximize comfort, including acoustic insulation and excellent air quality.
The headquarters building will meet extremely demanding energy performance standards, making it eligible for the “THPE” label (Très Haute Performance Energétique, or “Very High Energy Performance”). This includes facades designed to let in a maximum amount of natural daylight, plus optimized thermal comfort and reduced energy consumption (windows are fitted with retractable sunscreens mounted on the façade, lighting is automatically adjusted according to exterior daylight conditions, etc.). Rooftop vegetation helps cool the concrete slabs to limit the use of air-conditioning. Acoustic comfort is enhanced by a special façade design and configuration of the buildings around interior patios. Water management has also been carefully conceived, with special water-saving faucets, recovery of rainwater to irrigate the park, solar panels for hot water, etc. A portion of the exterior lighting will also be self-sustainable thanks to photovoltaic cells.
Louis-Baudouin Decaix, Chairman of BNP Paribas Immobilier Promotion Immobilier d'Entreprise, said: “We are very proud to have transformed this abandoned industrial site with a magnificent office development. In 18 months these offices will be home to a world leader in insurance products, a subsidiary of the leading bank in the eurozone in terms of deposits. This project has given us an opportunity to showcase our strong commitment to sustainable development. The many technical innovations implemented at this site will enable BNP Paribas Assurance to enhance the energy performance of the building, exceeding minimum regulatory requirements by an impressive 35 percent.”
Eric Lombard, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of BNP Paribas Assurance said: “The growth of BNP Paribas Assurance's business led to the decision to group our teams at a single location. These offices will ultimately accommodate 4,000 employees. Thanks to the expertise of BNP Paribas Real Estate, which has designed this remarkable High Quality Environmental headquarters for us, our commitment to sustainable development will become an integral part of our day-to-day work. What's more, our insurance company Cardif Assurance Vie has invested directly in this major project, one of the largest office developments currently being built in France.”
About BNP Paribas Real Estate
BNP Paribas Real Estate is a leading international real estate provider, and the market leader in Europe, in terms of results, according to Property Week annual ranking : Agency 2009. It offers clients a comprehensive range of services that span the entire real estate lifecycle: property development, transaction, consulting, valuation, property management and investment management.
BNP Paribas Real Estate has local expertise on a global scale through its presence in 29 countries (14 subsidiaries and 15
alliances) across Europe, India, Middle East and United States with 3,500 employees and 129 offices. It is an independent
subsidiary of BNP Paribas, one of the world's six 'safest' bank in 2009 according to Standard & Poor's and 'Global Bank of the Year 2008' by The Banker Magazine.
Real Estate for a changing world
About BNP Paribas Assurance
BNP Paribas Assurance (unavailable link) is the Life and Property & Casualty insurance arm of BNP Paribas. It develops and markets products and services under two commercial brands. Products distributed through the BNP Paribas retail branch network in France are branded BNP Paribas. Those distributed by other channels in France and in international markets are branded Cardif.
BNP Paribas Assurance is the world leader in creditor insurance and the fourth-largest life insurance company in France. Its life and non-life insurance units have received an AA rating from Standard & Poor's.BNP Paribas Assurance is actively committed to exemplary Corporate Social Responsibility. It has adopted a Socially Responsible Investment program, encourages diversity throughout the enterprise (earning the "Equality at Work" label in France) and supports local economic development in the markets where it operates. BNP Paribas Assurance is equally committed to environmental responsibility, targeting a 10-percent reduction in the company's carbon emissions by 2010.
It had gross written premiums of 16.1 billion euros in 2008. With operations in 41 countries, BNP Paribas Assurance generated 42% of its 2008 gross written premiums outside the BNP Paribas group and 37% of gross written premiums outside France. It counts 8,000 employees, 70% of them outside France.