February 25, 2014 - ARCADIS (EURONEXT: ARCAD), the world's leading natural and built asset design and consultancy firm, announced today it has been selected by BNP Paribas Fortis as a partner for the program management for the construction of its new headquarters in Brussels. Financial information was not disclosed.
BNP Paribas Fortis will build a new headquarters in Warandeberg in the center of Brussels, on the exact location of its current headquarters. The new building will have a floor space of 95,000 square meters and will accommodate 4,500 employees. It will meet today's standards in the field of sustainability and workplace welfare.

BNP Paribas Fortis has designated ARCADIS for the program management. Together with BNP Paribas Fortis, ARCADIS is part of the Program Management Office (PMO). This PMO organized, among other things, an architectural competition for the design of the new building. Out of seven candidates, the Austrian group Be Baumschlager Eberle was selected. In addition, the PMO is responsible for the complete management of the planning and budget for both the dismantling and demolition of the current site, the new construction and its commissioning.

An initial phase for the design and permitting will be completed in 2016. This will be followed by the demolition of the current headquarters. The construction of the new building will start in 2017.

According to Luc Hellemans, Managing Director for ARCADIS in Belgium: "ARCADIS already has a lot of international expertise in similar projects for financial institutions. We will make full use of this knowledge. By choosing ARCADIS, BNP Paribas Fortis is creating a strong team for managing this challenging project ".