Vibrant offices open to the city

Gecina has always endeavoured to offer inspiring working environments and pleasant living spaces in its buildings. The spaces that Gecina leases are designed to meet the aspirations of occupants, set an example in terms of corporate social responsibility and offer services that make employees' daily lives easier.

With the FEAT project, Gecina is going one step further, initiating a bold transformation of working practices in its flagship property complex in Boulogne-Billancourt. Its four buildings, Citylights, Sources, Horizons and Botanic, will become the beating heart of a new district. The project proposes to open them up to employees and local residents, where they will enjoy a new cultural programme every month. The aim is to create lively places to attract talent and win them over with a new neighbourhood dynamic. In this way, the buildings become new living and working destinations, where the occupants want to stay and the residents of Boulogne want to come. In fact, until now, workplaces and workspaces have been very inward-looking,’ points out Valérie Britay, Deputy Managing Director in charge of the Office division at Gecina. And we like to support and even anticipate our customers' expectations. And yet, one of our customers' major expectations today is to bring talent back into physical spaces. But if these are just physical spaces for productivity, ultimately we forget the whole essence of the social link. What's important is to play on these four buildings. You're not just in your own building. You can move from one building to another, and take advantage of the activities in the other buildings. And so we're also mixing talents together, employees from different companies.’

The Citylights, Sources, Horizons and Botanic buildings offer the opportunity to create a real neighbourhood life together, open to the residents of Boulogne and the employees of the tenant companies. Ludovic Delaisse, CEO of Colliers France, insists: ‘I don't think there's any such thing as a company sitting alone in its own building, enclosed in its own microcosm. From now on, it's something that has to be open to the outside world, it has to be societal.’ Fadi Boustany, Site Director and Head of Personnel at Michelin adds: ‘What interests us is a balance between the individual and the collective. And we say to ourselves that this is what can make people want to come and be present on site, the individual, the resident experience. But the collective is very important.

The ambition of the FEAT project is really to be part of a neighbourhood dynamic and to cooperate with local players, so as to be fully integrated into the Boulonnais context. For example, the first event organised in the Horizon building in December 2024 (see video) as part of FEAT featured local designers and the buffet was provided by a local caterer. The FEAT project, supported by Gecina, is exactly in line with my philosophy as mayor and city leader,’ adds Pierre-Christophe Baguet, mayor of Boulogne-Billancourt. This project perfectly complements my objectives. What's more, Gecina's teams are working with the city's cultural centres to create synergies between FEAT's programming and that of Boulogne-Billancourt's cultural centres in 2025. The first event - which was entirely free for participants - already offered a high-quality programme that proved very popular, including a karaoke show, laughter yoga, a creative market and stand-up comedy with Laura Demange. ‘We had an excellent evening. We'll be back to sing and dance in a month's time,’ enthused an employee from a FEAT building who took part in the event. See you on 13 February 2025 in the Sources building, for an evening organised around the theme of well-being.

For Benat Ortega, CEO of Gecina, ‘FEAT is the beginning of a new story for us. A story that will enable us to create exciting living experiences, to give everyone who enters our buildings a good reason to come to the office in the morning and to want to stay there!’

A successful challenge. So much so that Gecina has no intention of stopping there. The Group will be rolling out its FEAT concept to other buildings in its portfolio whose size and location allow it, in particular its Quarter building in Paris and the Tour T1 at La Défense, once their renovations have been completed. To be continued...