The future looks bright for the International School Luxembourg. On Tuesday afternoon finance minister Luc Frieden was invited to symbolically lay down the first brick of the brand new ISL primary school right next to the existing buildings in Hollerich/Belair . The project is set to cost roughly 48m € with the Luxembourg government fronting 39m € of the costs.

The new low-energy building will house 37 class rooms for children aged three to ten. There will also be special rooms for art class, science, computer and musical education as well as an auditorium for 400 people, a library, a restaurant and a sports hall.

The new primary school has a distinct local component to it as it was designed by Luxembourgish architect's office ARCO, resident architect Gary Haycock heading the project.

In a short speech ISL-director Chris Bowman warmly thanked the finance minister for his presence and continued support throughout the years. Before Luc Frieden symbolically laid down the first brick of the new building with two ISL-pupils, he spoke of three main reasons for backing up the ISL. On the one hand, there's education itself, which he said was the best expense for any government. Secondly, ISL should be supported further since the world is becoming a more globally connected place, where the English language is taking on an even more predominant role than it already has and thirdly, Mr Frieden mentioned the economic component of having a an international school in Luxembourg. The Grand Duchy needs an English-language school if it wishes to attract further international companies.

So on that note, let the building begin.