Château d’eau Ban de Gasperich
The water tower of the Ban de Gasperich was designed to supply water to a brand-new district of the city of Luxembourg. It has become an iconographic landmark day and night at the junction of three motorways leading to France, Germany and Belgium. The high, white reinforced concrete cylinder is with its 68 meters the highest water tower of the country. The structure is reminiscent of the central tower of a castle and can be read in the landscape from a long distance. The steel skin surrounding the concrete structure of the tower is reminiscent of Luxembourg’s industrial heritage. Leaning against a delicate lace fabric with openwork and irregular voids, it appears very dynamic. Towards the top it loses slightly in intensity and density. Due to the “dematerialization”, a constantly changing dialogue between the tower and its surroundings is created depending on the weather and lighting conditions. Behind the walls there are two water tanks with a total capacity of 1000 cubic meters. The individual floors can be reached by means of an elevator or stairs – with a total of 427 steps. Dressed in a white metal structure made of woven aluminium strips, reminiscent of lace, the water tower presents a unique image. Like a pond in a park, the facade captures and reflects light, projecting an ever-changing image. The white aspect of the weave is meant to symbolise the purity and preciousness of water, while its pattern is reminiscent of underground water reservoirs in permeable rock formations.
In February 2013, Jim Clemes Associates was named winner of the architectural competition launched by the City of Luxembourg. The jury was won over by “the abstract, yet functional, simple and elegant form that blends perfectly into the urban fabric. “The new Gasperich water tower was an opportunity for Jim Clemes Associates to rethink the question of the aesthetic integration of technical works into the urban fabric. Water towers, often forgotten and pushed into the background as purely technical structures, have in recent years become an aesthetic and striking feature of the areas in which they are located. Moreover, the lace-like weave is synonymous with the richness contained in the water tower, and underlines the preciousness of water as an increasingly rare commodity.
