Lumière: the office of tomorrow

​​​​​​​Can you introduce Comet?

Comet is a specialist in collaboration and socialization venues in Europe, based on a very simple but powerful conviction. The future of the office is a meeting place, because everything we can do individually - production - is much better done from home. On the other hand, the office remains an essential, crucial place for collaboration and socialization. That's our conviction, and why we've developed this Europe-wide network of buildings focused on collaboration.

Can you tell us about Praemia REIM France?

Praemia REIM is an asset management company. We manage assets worth around 35 billion euros in Europe, with just over half of this made up of office buildings, mainly in Paris, including the Lumière building we're working on today.

What is your shared ambition?

From a DNA point of view, I think that Praemia and I were quick to agree on the need to break new ground in a market which, before Covid, didn't really need to do so. So, very early on, we agreed on the need to design a different kind of office, one that was more flexible, more "serviced", a hotel office that met the different needs of a company. And on this desire to innovate in a market that had changed very little in several decades.From a DNA point of view, I think that Praemia and I were quick to agree on the need to break new ground in a market which, before Covid, didn't really need to do so. So, very early on, we agreed on the need to design a different kind of office, one that was more flexible, more "serviced", a hotel office that met the different needs of a company. And on this desire to innovate in a market that had changed very little in several decades.

Indeed, in our shared DNA, we also have the ability to apply concepts and apply them to buildings on a bespoke basis. This is what we did with Lumière. We seized the opportunity offered by this 100,000 square metre business center to deploy a meeting and coworking offer best suited to the needs of the building's clients and the area's users. That's why we share this common DNA, this common conviction about the office real estate of tomorrow, and about transforming office buildings into living spaces with experiences that go beyond service. 

The hotel-building concept: hotel or office?

Do you mind if I answer first? Go ahead. I'd like to say hotel, because from the Comet operator's point of view, this building exactly meets the needs of the main users. What are these needs? To have an office that's better than home. Before Covid, it was often said that the office should be like home. That's not true anymore, because since Covid, the home has already become an office, and the office has to be much better than the home. The office has to offer what the hotel does, which is experience, flexibility and service. As an employee, you want to have an experience when you go to the office. As a corporate guest, you want to have one too. This was not the case until Covid. So it's a huge challenge for us to offer, through these services, these spaces and this flexibility of use, an experience worthy of a hotel experience.

Indeed, the whole experience aspect is fundamental. Our customers also pay particular attention to the efficiency and functionality of their office space, which helps reduce the footprint of their real estate. At Lumière, we pay particular attention to the characteristics of the office floors we rework to make them as efficient as possible. And so, I'd say match zero, office hotel.

How does the Lumière building meet business needs?

From the operator's point of view, there's a huge change in that Lumière offers a user who wants to take up space a very broad palette that doesn't exist anywhere else on the market, meeting all these needs. A need for a rigid surface base with a potentially nine-year firm lease. At Comet, we're convinced of this. That this is, for life, the advent of the nine-year firm lease. But also, Comet Workplaces, which is our offer of flexible offices that can accommodate a project team for a few months or a few years. And last but not least, our Comet Meetings meeting spaces, which are much more "serviced" and even more flexible, and which are perfect for team meetings, team building or executive committee meetings. And so, from this point of view, Lumière offers an absolutely unprecedented panel with, on top of that, many other services in the building.

And there's also a unified experience, with all meeting services, flexible offices, traditional offices, catering and gyms unified, with on-site teams in charge of ensuring that the final user experience is a uniform one.