Panattoni has begun construction of a BTS centre for Solaris Bus & Coach. It is to be a warehouse with an area of over 10,000 sqm in Bolechowo near Poznań – just 150 m from the company’s current factory. The new development is to play a key role in the delivery of components and subassemblies for the production of motor vehicles. The buildings will be connected by road and will share utilities. The Solaris BTS centre is to be completed at the end of the first quarter or the beginning of the second quarter of 2022.
For the purposes of the development, Panattoni purchased the property that had been set aside for the project from Solaris and is to prepare it for the start of operations by mid-2022. The warehouse centre will be used to store parts for motor vehicle production that will take place in the neighbouring building and the development itself will fulfil a crucial role in the supply chain for parts and subassemblies required for producing buses and trolleybuses. The developer is to ensure that both buildings are to be connected both with roads and through shared utilities.
“Our development for Solaris is an excellent example of how fruitful collaboration begins long before the launch of construction work. The factors that turned out to be crucial for our client were the support we provided during the early negotiations, our preparation of the work schedule, our know-how and experience and our flexibility. We can guarantee that we will complete this development just as effectively as Solaris buses transport millions of passengers all over Europe,” says Marek Foryński, BTS Managing Director in Panattoni.
Within the total 10,100 sqm area, there will be 2250 sqm of social and office space (including locker rooms, an area for drivers and a dining room). This space will have appropriate acoustics as well as access to fresh air and daylight. Moreover, the developer will install an advanced smoke detection system both in this section and also within the warehousing space. In the multi-platform warehouse area, the developer will install ventilation with a smoke removal system as well as additional fire sprinklers. Additionally, Panattoni is to match the spacing and number of the light sources to the planned future shelving as well as the layout of internal hydrants. The developer is also planning to reinforce the roof so that solar panels may be fitted. The layout of the panels is to be matched to the layout of exhaust flaps and skylights. Powering the building with solar energy is just one of the sustainable solutions to be used in the building and the development itself is to be submitted for BREEAM certification.
Both the BTS centre being prepared by Panattoni, and the pre-existing factory are strategically located 8 km from Poznań’s city limits and 20 km from the city centre. Additionally, the building is just 25 km from the A2 motorway, which links such cities as Berlin, Łódź and Warsaw. It is also just over 20 km from the S11 expressway, which will eventually connect Katowice to the south with Koszalin on the Baltic coast.
The centre in Bolechowo is a further example of a Panattoni development that allows an effective warehousing and production chain to be created. In 2019, completed the largest home appliance production centre in Europe – the BSH factory in Łódź. The 57,000 sqm centre was effectively connected with the neighbouring logistics centre via the construction of two 58 m roofed corridors. The developer employed similar solutions for Intersnack Poland in Nysa and Sanden Manufacturing Poland in Polkowice. For the first development, the warehouse building was joined to the factory at a height of 4.5 m and, in the second development, a connecting corridor that is partially in the air was created. Such solutions allow for the flexible management and turnaround of completed goods.
The development in the Bolechowo location shows the huge potential of Poznań and its surrounding area. This is the market that saw the largest demand for warehousing in H1 2021 with a total of 650,000 sqm leased, almost 100,000 sqm more than the next most popular region. Panattoni has already delivered over 1 million sqm in the region and is not dropping the pace.
