Place de l'Etoile competition in Luxembourg

Competition for the development of the Place de l'Etoile in Luxembourg in 1989.

The Mulhern & Steil project was easily awarded first prize in the first phase of the competition before being eliminated quickly in the second phase.

The architects of the jury told politicians that it would be less attractive to serious developers. In reality, and as is so often the case, he wanted to ensure that the award-winning project was modernist in style.

The Mulhern & Steil project proposed a welcoming approach by marking the west entrance with two symmetrical buildings formalizing a sort of gateway to the city.

A public park was developed for the office workers to enjoy during lunch and for residents in evenings and weekends was one of the main assets of the project. The buildings surrounding the park were erected on a pedestal wall housing the covered parking and recalling the defensive walls of the city of Luxembourg.

The Place de l'Etoile, a vehicular crossroads, was formalized by the pavement and an obelisk, as well as by the geometric shape and receding of the new buildings surrounding the square. While a pedestrian square on the south side was intended to receive terraces of restaurants and cafes and to give air in the corner opposite to the public park.