Savills Investment Management (Savills IM) has signed a lease extension with Arup at the Gdański Business Center office complex in Warsaw. Arup decided to expand the leased space to 2,000 sqm and extend the lease for another eight years.
In the new, tailor-made work environment, designed for Arup with utmost attention to the smallest details by the research and design studio Workplace, the office is dedicated to employees and responds to their diverse needs, for example by introducing different types of zones: places for quiet, individual work, creative spaces for teamwork and knowledge-sharing, as well as breakout areas. In each zone, the employee can adjust parameters such as temperature, lighting and desk height. In the work zone, all stations are equipped with daylight sensors functioning actively with artificial lighting. The rooms are also equipped with occupancy sensors, so the lights will turn off when an employee is away for longer. With artificial lighting positioned above workstations, individual users can customize the illumination for their own space.
Environment-friendly solutions were a key objective during the design of Arup’s new office space, and later on during the renovation work. Recycled or naturally sourced materials were mostly used in the process. More than 90 percent of the furniture in the office is second-hand, with some items carried over from the previous tenant. The carpeting is made from recycled material, without a harmful bitumen backing. Greenery is an important element of the office space. Arup staff took part in a workshop on growing the plants that can now be found in the new office—about 600 plants in total. In the chillout zone and the main staff welfare area, there are several installations for the cultivation of edible plants—a micro-leaf farm and a hydroponic system allowing Arup employees to grow their own herbs.
In addition to Arup and Savills IM, more than a dozen business partners were involved in the creation of this project, along with neuroscientists and plant experts who make every effort to implement the standards of this new approach to office space design. Forbis Group was the general contractor for the project.
Julia Racewicz, Head of Asset Management, Office & Logistics at Savills Investment Management, Poland, said: “Arup’s new office at Gdański Business Center is a model of how workspace can be both user-friendly and planet-friendly. We are extremely proud of this completed project, as well as the fact that Arup has decided to stay at our office complex for years to come. We at Savills IM were heavily involved in the process of establishing the new Arup office from the very beginning. As we represent the owner of Gdański Business Center, we organized the tender to select a company to carry out multi-disciplinary plans and specifications and to choose the general contractor. We were also coordinators of the works. The entire process is a perfect example of our approach to managing properties in the Savills IM portfolio by working closely with tenants and listening to their needs.”
Małgorzata Madalińska, Senior Project Manager responsible for project implementation at Arup, added: “Our new office meets the diverse needs of employees and supports their physical and mental well-being. It is a space where they have the flexibility to choose where they want to work, both on their own and in groups. The office space also features chillout zones and areas boosting healthy habits: workout bars, table tennis, several water dispensers, and a healthy food farm. Arup’s new Gdański Business Center headquarters in the spirit of zero waste is the company’s showpiece representing our philosophy and values.”
Gdański Business Center is a modern complex consisting of four class A office buildings (101,000 sqm of lease space in total) in the centre of Warsaw. The development was completed in 2014 (phase 1) and 2016 (phase 2). Apart from the office space, the complex also features restaurants, a café, a beauty salon, a kindergarten, a medical centre, the Zdrofit fitness club, and a public courtyard with greenery and street furniture elements. Gdański Business Center offers 1,379 underground and 76 on-grade parking spots, and biking infrastructure with 416 bicycle racks, changing rooms and showers. The tenants of the complex include Provident, KPMG, Allianz, Philip Morris, Euronet, KMD, Nielsen, Dell EMC
The property, which was awarded a BREEAM Excellent certificate, was purchased by Savills IM on behalf of a global pension fund.
