2021/09/09
The municipal government of Vilnius city has approved the design proposals for the Hero business centre to be built on the Lvovo street. The proposals were prepared taking into account the comments received by the real estate developer Realco during the first hearing and include revised solutions for the façade of the business centre. The company, furthermore, carefully considered the architectural and visual features of the surrounding area. The adjustments made will not affect and will ensure the possibility to obtain the country’s first WELL (healthy building) and Breeam Excellent (sustainable building) certificates.
Façade solutions were revised
“When purchasing a land lot in the territory of the existing Ibrahim centre, we were aware that this is a tough spot from an urbanistic point of view. It is affected by both the central business district being developed on the right bank of the Neris river (where a new office building is soon to be built) and the Old Town, which is subject to special protection regulations. After the first hearing, we received recommendations on ways to improve the façade of the designed buildings so that they are seamlessly integrated into the surrounding environment and do not affect the nearby areas, in particular the Old Town. Then, we contacted our architects and found the appropriate solutions,” says Julius Dovidonis, CEO of Realco.
According to him, the improvements made reflect the international architectural trends, where modern high-rise buildings are seamlessly and naturally integrated into the surrounding environment. “We have added façade elements that go well with the colour scheme and relief of the nearby buildings without negatively affecting the overall view of the Old Town. It is also important that the improvements made will allow maintaining the visual integrity, even in the changing environment that has not yet been finalised. The area includes the current territory of Šnipiškės, which is changing rapidly and will undoubtedly change even more in the future,” says Julius Dovidonis.
Aiming for the country’s first healthy office certification
The business centre that will be built according to the proposal approved by the municipal government of Vilnius city will consist of two 15- and 14-storey buildings connected by a 3-storey stylobate. The total area of the building will reach almost 45,500 square metres. More than half, i.e., 27,000 square metres, will be occupied by offices, and 800 square metres will be used for catering facilities. The building will have 397 spaces in an underground parking lot and 63 spaces in an above-ground parking lot. 14 of them will be parking spaces for electric vehicles. There will be 67 bicycle parking spaces.
According to the CEO of Realco, the changes introduced will not affect the possibility to obtain the country’s first WELL healthy office certification for the Hero business centre. To this end, experts from the International WELL Building Institute™ (IWBI™) issuing the certificates will assess the offices against more than 100 criteria for healthy offices. The institute introduced them in 2014 based on the analysis of best practices in building design, construction and management, scientific and medical research, as well as literature on the impact of the environment on health, behavioural and demographic risk factors. Almost 5,000 sites in 65 countries have been certified under the WELL system.
Realco, the company developing the Hero project, has already built four business centres in the territory of the Ozas Park in Vilnius. The total area of these sites is 52 thousand square metres and EUR 45 million were invested.