La Petite Lanterne is a business centre located in the Qualitis business park in Enghien, at the crossroads of Wallonia, Flanders and the Brussels region. It provides companies in Wallonia Picardy with office space and temporary start-up premises to support their economic development. La Petite Lanterne's project involved the construction of two buildings: one with four start-up premises and a business centre, the other with three start-up premises.
Construction of an extension to the La Lanterne business centre in Enghien (Qualitis park)
- 09 January 2020
In addition to a quality working space, La Petite Lanterne offers project leaders, start-ups and SMEs comprehensive, tailor-made support, from the creation to the development of the company. Our objective is to support innovation and create added value so that in the long term, jobs can be created in Picardy Wallonia.
Covering an area of 26 hectares, the business park also offers the best possible conditions for companies who are active in the service sector, innovation, and high value-added production. The development of this economic development hub has been completed by the installation of various infrastructures to welcome the companies. These aim at strengthening the link between entrepreneurship and research, and to foster creativity and innovation. The La Lanterne innovation centre, which was completed in 2010, hosts around twenty innovative start-ups and offers integrated and scalable technology. The Qualitis business park also includes a crèche, completed in May 2013, which was the recipient of regional co-financing.
As there is currently no more space available in La Lanterne, an extension named La Petite Lanterne has been initiated. The aim of this project was to complete the existing rental offer, but also to diversify it by additionally providing start-up premises for rent, the functionality of which is improved by the provision of services (meeting rooms, photocopying, telephone communications, etc.).
Furnished and equipped offices
The architecture of La Petite Lanterne has been designed to be consistent with the existing facilities and to optimise the dedicated rental spaces. Specifically, the building comprises five distinct entities, namely start-up premises 1 to 4 and the business centre, which are complemented by communal areas.
The business centre is located on the first and second floors of the building. It comprises: eight office units with areas ranging from 24 to 55 m²; a 37 m² meeting room; a reception area linked to La Lanterne; premises providing services to companies such as IT and photocopier rooms.
The office space and the meeting room are furnished and equipped to meet the needs of companies: secretary service, a Voice over Internet Protocol telephone system, and a broadband connection.
The four start-up premises are located on the ground floor and each one has a 198 m² workshop, a 50 m² office, a dining area, sanitary facilities and internal access to the business centre. The floor area of the La Petite Lanterne building is 1,887 m². Located nearby, the three start-up premises—each one covering an area of 300 m²—complete the rental space on offer within La Lanterne and La Petite Lanterne.
Heat pump to regulate temperature
In terms of heating, ventilation and air-conditioning, the intention of the Intercommunal Economic Development Corporation of the Tournai, Ath and neighbouring districts (IDETA) was to equip the building of La Petite Lanterne with an environmentally friendly, functional and efficient system while offering the best possible levels of comfort to occupants in terms of regulation and acoustic comfort. A gas heat pump for heating and cooling the offices was chosen.
The work began in May 2016 and was completed in September 2017. It also integrated the development of the immediate surroundings of La Petite Lanterne, including car parks, a meeting and social hub for the various business centres, the La Lanterne business centre, the Les Lucioles crèche, and now the Petite Lanterne.
Total investment and European funding
Total investment for the “Construction of an extension to the La Lanterne centre in Enghien (Qualitis)” (La Petite Lanterne) project is EUR 5 934 566; the contribution from the European Regional Development Fund amounts to EUR 1 992 315 under the “ERDF PO Wallonia” cooperation programme for the 2014-2020 programming period. The investment falls under the “Jobs, Growth and Investment” priority.