2020/12/17
Realco, which is set to construct a new Hero business centre, has initiated its publicity procedure and presented project proposals. Next year will see the start of the construction of the first health-promoting offices in Lithuania to be built in the central business district of Vilnius. The project will involve the construction of a 15-storey business centre with a floor area of nearly 30,000 square metres. The centre will be located at 21B Lvovo Street, on the site where Ibrahim Centre is currently situated. It will be a welcome addition to the capital’s Class A office space market and will mark a new chapter in the development of business centres in Lithuania. The business centre will be the first in the country to seek to obtain the international WELL Building Standard certification. It will also seek to receive Breeam Excellent certification.
A 15-storey business centre with 30,000 square metres of office space for rent
“Observing international trends and seeing the current market situation, we understand perfectly well that people working in offices need something more than just convenient workplaces and that it is no longer enough for businesses to hold certificates confirming the energy performance and sustainability of the building. We are clearing witnessing an increased focus on the well-being of people working in offices as well as those who visit them or who live around them. We have designed the new business centre with the well-being of its occupants in mind, and today we present the healthy office centre which will be a great addition to the capital’s office space market in the central business district,” Realco’s CEO Julius Dovidonis said.
The new office centre will consist of two 15-storey volumes interconnected with a 3-storey stilobate. The building is set to have a total floor space of nearly 45,500 square metres. More than half of the space, i. e. 27,000 square metres, will be devoted to offices, and 800 square metres will accommodate catering services. The ground floor of the business centre with a total floor space of 800 square metres will accommodate various service operators and vendors. A shared lobby, measuring 900 square metres in size on the ground floor, will house lounge and meeting spaces.
Projects featuring healthy building solutions
“The business centre will be built in a representative area of the city. For this reason, when planning the site, we have focused on public spaces, green areas, small architecture forms, lighting as well as ensuring the traffic capacity of pedestrian and cyclist flows. We have planned access ways to the site and the parking layout with all this in mind,” Realco’s CEO said. The site will have access ways from Lvovo Street to the south and from Krokuvos Street to the north. The building will accommodate 397 parking spaces in the underground car park and 63 car spaces in the above-ground car park. Out of them, 14 will be devoted to electric vehicles. There will also be 67 bicycle parking spaces.
The project’s infrastructure, which has been designed to meet the needs of cycling enthusiasts, is one more way to promote physical activity of future occupants. Moreover, the new office building will feature at least 23 other solutions necessary to obtain the WELL Building certification. “There are a large number of people who lead a healthy lifestyle among our colleagues, thus, when designing the site and the building, we have naturally included a number of solutions that promote health and physical activity. Alongside these efforts, we also observed international trends and discovered a “healthy building” concept, and we realized that our project meets the requirements of such a building,” Mr. Dovidonis said.
International institute experts will evaluate the building
After the project proposals are approved, even more “healthy building” criteria will be integrated into the building when preparing a detailed technical project. For the purposes of WELL certification, they will be evaluated by the experts from the International WELL Building Institute™ (IWBI™).
The WELL building standard was developed by integrating leading practices in building design, construction and management as well as the data from scientific and medical research and literature on the impact of the environment on people’s health and changes in health, as well as behavioural and demographic risk factors. After six years of research and development efforts, the standard was unveiled in 2014 by an IWBI™ team consisting of chemists, healthy nutrition specialists, triathletes, urban cycling enthusiasts, gardeners and experienced travellers. Currently, the WELL system is in use by nearly 5,000 projects in 65 countries.
The real estate development company Realco which is behind this project has already developed four business centres in Ozas Park territory with a total area of 52,000 square metres and a total investment value of 45 million euros. Realco is planning to invest around 70 million euros into the new HERO business centre.