Workshop in Bordeaux

Innovation at Icade is everyone’s business! To stimulate creativity, challenge the status quo and enable employees to be entrepreneurial in their day-to-day activities, Icade has put intrapreneurial processes in place, financed by an in-house Innovation Fund (€2m in 2018). Developing a culture conducive to innovative projects means allowing employees to take part in the Group’s transformation, as regards both its solutions and way of working.

From the idea to the project

Innovathons, workshops, conferences, learning expeditions... so many ways to think outside the box to generate new ideas! With this objective in mind, the team in charge of innovation encourages employees to give shape to their ideas, by providing coaching, intrapreneurship training, new tools, etc.Once the project has been structured, financing can be obtained through Icade’s Innovation Fund. This is the project’s seed phase which should result in a Proof of Concept, with the continued support of the Innovation team.

Incubating projects

Open Lab, a fully adaptable area located at the heart of Icade’s headquarters, provides intrapreneurs with a multi-purpose space dedicated to innovative projects. There, the team in charge of innovation also conducts its day-to-day activities (workshops, meetings with start-ups, pitching sessions, etc.).

Projects aimed at being implemented on a larger scale can join Urban Odyssey, Icade’s start-up studio, in order to benefit from fresh funding and incubation at Station F, in the HEC Incubator.

Cycle Up has revolutionised the reuse of building materials

Cycle Up, a beacon of innovation for business, is a digital platform dedicated to the circular economy and the reuse of building materials. It got off the ground as a start-up under a partnership between Icade and Egis. Devised by intrapreneurs, Cycle Up records the available building materials on a construction site and ranks them according to their degree of reusability. As a result, the Pulse building, located in the Portes de Paris business park, was partially built using materials chosen on Cycle Up. The concept as a whole has many advantages, including reduced construction costs, a smaller carbon footprint, waste reduction, resource conservation, etc.

Pulse building in Saint-Denis (93)

Testimonial

Emmanuel Morvan, Director of the Île-de-France IcadeStore and founder of Imagin' Home, takes us behind the scenes of this project.

  • How did the idea for your project come about?

    Emmanuel Morvan: My job involves meeting future buyers. They are tied to a PLU (local urban planning plan), the choice of architects, etc. They have little room to manoeuvre in terms of their future housing purchase. I thought that in the era of personalisation it was important to offer them a form of freedom by integrating them upstream in the process to choose the size and layout of rooms, outdoor spaces, interior design, etc.

  • How did your idea come to fruition?

    E.M. : I participated in an internal workshop on customer relations. During these two intensive days, I met colleagues who agreed with my point of view. Our pitch aroused the interest of members of the management team. The innovation department helped us to put together a solid case. The project was then tested according to the PoC (Proof of concept) method. I set up a structure to seek funding from the Icade innovation commitment committee. Imagin' Home is now in start-up mode and the project is progressing well. It is gaining the support not only of the internal community, but also of customers, the market, elected officials and communities.

  • How would you rate the whole process?

    E.M. : It was an extraordinary journey even though I have far exceeded the 30% of time supposedly dedicated to my project. I would like to acknowledge the crucial support of Hans Oswald, the National Sales Manager. Today, all systems are go and everyone can test the housing of their dreams on the website imaginhome.icade.fr.