Congress centre planned for Luxexpo site

The Luxexpo site in Kirchberg is set to be transformed into a congress and exhibition centre with the aim to make the grand duchy one of the top 50 business events locations worldwide.

The tourism and public works ministries announced the decision on Thursday, with Luxexpo’s lease of the site expiring in 2028.

“It was agreed to maintain the current site in a redeveloped form adapted to the specific needs of professional events,” a press statement said. The site will be redesigned together with local players and the Fonds Kirchberg for it to form “an integral part of the detailed urban planning of this district.”

The site will be redeveloped in several stages, the ministries said, to allow it to continue operating during the works.

“The construction of the new convention center will be carried out as part of the overall redevelopment of the site currently occupied by Luxexpo. For the sake of densification, it is planned to build in height in order to free up floor space,” public works minister François Bausch (DP) said.

Kirchberg redesign

The minister plans for the Kirchberg district to become a more mixed urban space of offices, housing and shops. The government had brought in Danish urban planning firm Gehl to develop ideas on how to make Kirchberg more people friendly.

Their suggestions included better cycling infrastructure but also greener pedestrian areas, shops at ground-floor level of office blocks and urban planning on a more human scale.

“The new district will be designed as an urban centre on a human scale, representing many points of attraction, with various shops and leisure activities,” Bausch said of the future of Kirchberg.

The decision to revamp the Luxexpo site comes after the Chamber of Commerce, the City of Luxembourg and other stakeholders decided to invest €1.5m into the current exhibition space.

Central to this plan will be investment in equipment to enable the venue to stage hybrid events which will combine in-person and remote participation.

For tourism minister Lex Delles (DP), a more thorough redevelopment over the coming years will help the grand duchy take its place among the top destinations for business events.

“With a multilingual and multicultural environment, a strategic position at the heart of Europe and innovative economic sectors, Luxembourg has all the assets to appear on the map of international congress organisers,” he said.

The government did not disclose a budget for the project or a more detailed timeline of the next steps.

Luxexpo is currently being used as a vaccination centre and operated as a first response centre for coronavirus patients during the height of the pandemic last year.