PSN is preparing exceptional projects in Prague

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PSN has been operating in the Czech real estate market since 1991 – originally as Prague Real Estate Administration.

The rebranding took place in 2019. The PSN portfolio includes Prague’s architectural gems such as the Dancing House, the Fashion House, the Dlážděná Palace, Kotva and the exceptional Vanguard Prague project. Štěpán Smrčka, PSN Development Director, introduced us to the company’s activities.

Can you introduce PSN to us in more detail?

We have been through an incredible 30 years, similarly to other Czech family businesses that were established in the early 1990’s. This year, we celebrate a round-figure jubilee and thanks to iconic real estate, which, since last year, also includes City Empiria, we have reached a stage where we are still a medium-size family business, but the size of projects has shifted significantly. We find that what we grew up on, i.e. the typical block of flats for reconstruction in Prague 2, 3 or 5, can no longer be our only key business. Nevertheless, we can do it, we enjoy doing it, so we will continue to do so, but we have to include ever larger projects in our portfolio. It is a nice tax for success, for all those 30 years of work. The company is undergoing a certain evolution within the team and project management. We are moving from the reconstruction of housing blocks to new buildings and large multifunctional complexes that combine offices, apartments, etc.

What should I imagine under the term ‘medium-size family business’? How many people do you employ?

There are about a hundred of us, we have our headquarters in Prague and a branch in Pardubice. The entire team focuses on all segments of the real estate market – from acquisitions and development through leasing and sales, including administration and everything related to support activities. We are basically constantly looking for quality colleagues. So, within the mentioned evolution, we are still recruiting people, a priori into project management and implementation, within the development of new buildings and growth of the company.

How do you respond to the current situation in the housing market?

I do not want to repeat the same thing that most developers say to the media – approval processes, prices of building materials, work, housing prices, etc. As developers, we are not a priori happy that apartments are expensive, nor do our margins change dramatically over time. The answer lies in the length and complexity of the whole preparation process. As the investment in projects increases significantly due to the length of processes, it means that margins remain at a similar level. Of course, we are glad that there is interest in real estate and housing. It is a safe haven in these turbulent times, when a lot of money is being printed and high inflation is expected. But we are really not happy that fewer apartments are permitted every year and fewer of them are put up for sale.

Is rental housing the solution?

It is the market’s response to what is happening. Of course, if the amount of money you have to invest in your first property already exceeds a certain level – as well as the interest rate – it will force you to rent. I think going to rent is no shame at all. But in our region, renting has always been seen as a bit inferior and everyone had to have their own apartment. Compared to Western Europe, much fewer people in our country live in rental accommodation, so there is room to make up for it a bit. From a user’s point of view, rental housing represents a solution to the situation in the real estate market; on the other hand, it must be said that due to Covid and the restriction of a certain volume of airbnb services in Prague, rents are not growing as fast as the value of real estate. But when the situation calms down, it may change again. We – as a family development company – keep an interesting part of the real estate under our own management and create a portfolio of hundreds of apartments for rent. We would like to keep and manage them in the long term.

Does this mean that you will not outsource the administration, but will manage it with your own employees?

Due to our long experience with property management and the fact that we already have several dozen buildings and hundreds of apartments in our portfolio, we have our knowledge and an experienced team of people. They are part of the ‘family’, everything works and fits together. So, renting and administration will mostly remain under our control.

How do you perceive the establishment of the Prague Development Company?

I think that only time will tell what it will bring. It is very important that it is run by an experienced person, which I believe is happening, and that it is backed by an experienced team. There is no need to explain at length that development is becoming more and more complex, longer and more demanding on quality staff. What they are trying to build here is quite common in the West, it has its history and culture. My only fear is that similar attempts ‘outside the market’ never turn out very well in our country. On the one hand, I keep my fingers crossed, but it is clear to me that it will be a very difficult process and only time will tell whether they can do it, but mainly whether they will receive political support. It is a job for 5–10 years before it ‘catches on’, which is very difficult with a four-year political cycle. It will be a demanding discipline and I am sincerely curious about it.

What is your opinion on the new building law?

I will not go into details, the effort is appreciated. It didn’t surprise me that it was eventually politically adjusted to a certain hybrid. But the approved principles are at least a step in the right direction. As far as legislation is concerned, there is a lot of discussion held about the deadlines, reactions and responsibilities of individual officials. I think that we will fight here indefinitely for simplification and greater transparency and, above all, predictability of legislation. It is okay to define a long-term vision for the territory in which you live or manage together with people and self-government but the process of land or construction management itself should be a brisk formal verification of the intention within the standards. It is not a problem for the developer to have a limit somewhere. What represents a problem for him is that a possible construction limit does not change over time nor is not politically valid. Then he discovers during the process that there are other limits besides what is written. I think this is the most difficult thing in business – investing money with a vision of 5–10 years and only then finding out what can actually be done… This is the worst thing for any investor and is naturally reflected in the length of processes, rising of project prices and in the end even in the price of the product itself.

Can you highlight some of your projects?

There were two most visible projects we have implemented in recent years. The first one was the Dlážděná Palace, which is luxury residential housing in the centre of Prague, in a really complex area, with an investment of over CZK 200 million in a very luxurious segment. Despite minor pains along the way, I think, that in cooperation with conservationists and architects, we have completed a product that clients rate as excellent. The second such flagship product is Vanguard – a conversion of a former industrial factory hall built vertically in Modřany, Prague. Here we are preparing a really exceptional loft housing project. You will be able to take your darling to your apartment by elevator – by the darling meaning a car or motorcycle. It is a very demanding project in the order of hundreds of millions of crowns. In addition to a total of twenty-five projects, we have two other absolutely exceptional projects in the preparation phase. It is Vinohradská 8, which is the former Transgas that we have recently bought from HB Reavis. It is a turning point for us – 20,000 sq m of apartments, offices and shops in a unique place. HB Reavis originally planned only offices. As a residential developer, we would like the majority to include apartments, and offices to remain on a smaller scale. The second project is in Vršovická Street – an industrial complex of Koh-i-noor, where we plan to build 500–550 apartments. These complex projects go hand in hand with the evolution of the company that I have previously mentioned.

Arnošt Wagner / Photo: PSN Archive

Developers lacked generosity

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Since 1996, Passerinvest Group has primarily been noted as an urban developer with the BB Centrum in Prague 4, which is one of the largest and most successful urban projects in the Czech Republic as well as the whole of Europe.

Other significant projects in Passerinvest Group’s portfolio include Nové Roztyly, the brownfield of the former Interlov complex, where, in the future, there will be an area of pleasant housing with a large proportion of greenery, complemented by services and an administrative function. The founder of Passerinvest Group and its CEO, Radim Passer, spoke to us about both current and future planned development projects as well as problems in the Czech construction industry and the economy in general and their possible solutions.

How do you assess the previous years 2019 and 2020?

I am grateful to our Lord Almighty for the decision made in 2013 that we will be not only an urban developer but also a long-term investor. The repurchasing of buildings in the BB Centrum and the fact that we did not sell those buildings completed after 2008 proved to be a very good strategy in more demanding and uncertain times, when it is very difficult to construct new buildings in Prague. Thanks to the fact that our assets make up more than 90% of office space, even the Covid-period did not de facto cause us any damage. Of course, we tried to accommodate retailers so that they could survive and function economically after opening. There were partial losses, but not significant from a percentage point of view.

Apart from the construction of administrative buildings, you also deal with residential development.

As part of our urban development, we try to build apartments on suitable land. This is the third time we have built apartments at the BB Centrum – but is, for the first time, at a time when they are experiencing a certain boom. We are satisfied from a business point of view, however, I would say that the state administration and permitting processes were already in delirium before Covid – and now they have moved to the stage of clinical death. The construction industry as such is – perhaps unknowingly, but systematically – liquidated by all post-Velvet Revolution governments. It got into such a desperate situation that despite the fact that not even half of what should be built is not being built, there is still lack of people in the construction industry. The covid period also contributed to this, as transport and logistics chains were disrupted. That is why we are getting into a situation that you may remember from the pre-Velvet Revolution period, when one queues up for material and almost no one delivers anything on time. This year, this was contributed to by the uncontrolled rise in prices of building materials and work. That means that it is very difficult for any developer to plan at the moment. Given that housing construction now plays a dominant role in development, I think that the situation is, of course, the worst for those who would like to have housing.

When buying housing at current prices, the developer is seen as the one asking exorbitant money. How do you see this factor?

I apologize for the expression, but it is given by the absolute ignorance of the Czech nation. I’ll explain why: It has three levels. As for the first, I have to say self-critically that we, the developers, are to blame for this ourselves because, in my opinion, there was a very long time when we did not work with public spaces, refused to invest outside our land and to make the surroundings of our project look better. In other words, there was a lack of generosity. In addition to that, we never had a professional association, everybody played on their own patch, cared only for their own interests and their own projects. And when someone needed to solve something, he delivered an envelope to a politician instead of having it dealt with via the professional structure. In recent years, there is at least the Association of Developers that has a code of ethics that its members should follow – firstly, we will not support corruption, even at the expense of making less money. Secondly, we will demonstrate a certain generosity. The generosity is, of course, displayed differently in a project such as Brumlovka, where one developer builds a considerable number of buildings, and differently in projects where ten developers build and develop one area. But even there one needs to demonstrates some generosity. So, that is one level.

And the other one?

The second level is the level of politicians, both local and parliamentary. As the Czech Republic, we have the worst laws in this area, both in the first and second worlds. Those elements that hinder the construction of motorways and various publicly beneficial infrastructure – and, of course, often private development – are financed with private sector money or the state budget to the extent that it is outrageous and unbelievable. I would say that this is the parliamentary level when our post-Velvet Revolution politicians have not yet understood the contribution of the construction industry to the state budget, and therefore to the richness of the nation as a whole. In 1990, politicians could not know because no one had any experience with it. Only a small percentage of them were willing to learn from the markets where those things worked. That is why we are in the situation that we are. Because of the politicians.

…and the third one?

The third influence is the media. Now, I do not mean the professional one, because I have never registered that there would be elementary ignorance or some incompetence there, or that there would even be any anti-development efforts. The media I have in mind includes television and newspapers. I think they speak in a completely distorted way about this important sector of the Czech economy and thus de facto mislead the public. The fourth component is the general public. Human selfishness, which shows up in an approach of ‘I already live here, so, I couldn’t care less where and if the one who does not have housing yet will have one’. There are not many of them. I would say that those who are the most heard are some 2% and they influence those who do not think about it more deeply, sign something or hear out an argument taken out of context, and then resentment arises against something. It is a question of public education. If the private sector, relevant politicians and responsible journalist’s approach this constructively, even the public’s view of the importance of construction will change radically. It will not happen in a day, but there is a chance that the public’s view of construction may change, say in some five years’ time, providing the issue is handled correctly.

Do you have a feasible proposal for solving housing problems?

For a newly built apartment of 65 sq m, the state will receive at least CZK 4 million thanks to multiplying effects and contributions to the state budget. This is a very important number, because thanks to construction and development, health care, education and all those services that the state has to perform can function and people will receive pensions and various benefits. But there must be freedom in the market. The fact that our politicians, both local and national, are the reason that no construction is going on here, that there is no one to build here, that Prague does not have a planning plan 32 years after the revolution – these are things for which are responsible both local and national politicians, all paid with money, which comes from the private sector to which they primarily answer to. I say this absolutely intentionally in order to give a very clear impression. There is little discussed about that in public. I think it is important that this information is also heard among the professional public, so that people and our colleagues are not afraid to spread it. And the solution? First of all, it is necessary to construct an analysis – with the slogan ‘be reconciled with the past’ – because we will not change that. Mistakes have already been made and there is no point in looking for the culprits. We need to learn from this and be responsible for the future. We have to think for how many people we are building the country and Prague. If we believe that the Republic should have plus 40% of people compared to the current situation, there are consequences in the field of spatial planning. Secondly, this requires transport infrastructure. The current one was planned by the Communists and in the 32 years since the revolution, we have not added one bit to it. In other words, it is necessary to finish building completely new motorway routes here, to build complex high-speed railway routes and, of course, the Prague underground, for which even the Bolsheviks planned the E route, which would connect Prague 4 with Prague 5, etc. We must finally move Prague into the 21st century. Of course, the city should be connected by underground to the airport, where there should also be a high-speed railway line, because if we do not, we remain the losers who condemn themselves forever to remain a nation of the second or third category.

Are we approaching a solution?

This year, we launched the ‘Development of Buildings for a Richer Republic’ initiative, which brings a fundamental message that we presented to both parliamentary politicians and various representatives in Prague. You know that 76% of each investment in construction ends up in the state budget. When there are, every year, 10,000 less apartments built in Prague than is necessary, it represents minus CZK 40 billion, for which Prague annually impoverishes the state budget. Prague further loses over CZK 70 billion every year because it has a proportion of only half of office space per capita than Western European cities of comparable importance and size. The point is that the state earns from each building four times more per year than its owner. Once again, this is due to the multiplying effects and tax levies, because in the building are people who receive wages from which levies are paid every month to the state budget. There is quite a number of foreigners, especially from Western Europe, who like to come here willingly for work. If the market keeps growing and corporations see that it is possible to rent more offices in Prague, they will set up more regional headquarters there. In such cases, Prague can have another 250,000 people only in those administrative buildings that are not here and should already have been. That would mean at least CZK 70 billion for the state budget, because these are people who usually have very good salaries. Each of them who comes here must have an apartment, whether they buy it or rent it. In other words, it is the residential developer again who has to build the apartment for them and Prague can then become a city that will help the whole of the Czech Republic to become wealthy. And then there is the budget determination of taxes, where Prague complains that it only receives – other cities complain in a similar way – yet if Prague had behaved differently for 32 years, the state budget would have far more money every year just from Prague. It is at least CZK 100 billion from Prague.

Foreign investors’ decision-making is simple – they go where the conditions are more favourable, for instance to Poland, or more precisely to Warsaw.

Warsaw originally had far less office space than Prague, but it has far surpassed us today. In addition, 22,000 apartments were built in Warsaw last year and only 5,000 in Prague. The second thing is that 1.8 million Ukrainians allegedly live in Poland whereas in our country, it is 100,000. In other words, let us now ask the question that we would already have the new building law, if it is not destroyed by any post-election group again. Then it would be one of the best actions carried out by politicians of the entire post-revolutionary era.

But the building law alone does not solve this…

Then we need to adjust the standards, which are stricter than elsewhere – whether it’s sunlight, lighting, noise, or even distances that are to be kept… And there is another thing: the workforce. Even if we have a good building law and constructions are permitted faster, who will build them? Today, there is desperately little construction but the people are not there anyway.

Let’s return to Prague 4, please. What are your company goals?

We remain a local entity, an urban developer, but also a long-term investor and our goal is to complete BB Centrum. Which, at this time, also includes the Oliva project, which is under construction and includes about six stages, and the development and nice completion of the surroundings of the Roztyly underground station. These are projects with a horizon of the year 2030, or at a maximum of 2031. And then, of course, it is the development of the Budějovická underground station. Truth be told, when you look at the underground stations in this part of Prague, it is one despair after another – Roztyly, Kačerov, Budějovická, Pankrác, Pražského povstání and Vyšehrad. Sadly, one has to admit that most of those stations looked better under the Bolsheviks than they do now. That’s just awful. Pankrác was supposed to be the natural centre of Prague 4 from 1990. Even the Bolsheviks were already preparing it that way… As a result, Pankrác is a frightening example of an uncoordinated development. There are many nice buildings that are nice themselves, but what about the space between them? One feels sad when one looks there. If the developer does not adjust the area right away, in coordination with the city, it will never happen later on.

Pankrác is also related to the issue of high-rise buildings…

If you look at Bratislava, you will see that there are ten times more high-rise buildings compared to Prague. And there is also a view of them from Bratislava Castle and they alone offer views of the castle. These buildings create a nice landmark of Bratislava. I don’t think any sensible people want to attack the historic city centre. That is untouchable. But in all other parts of inner Prague and the outskirts, there could already be hundreds and hundreds of buildings of a height between 70 and 120 m. Now, we are sitting in Philadelphia, on the 17th floor – it is the tallest administrative building in Prague built after the revolution. This is a disgrace to Prague.

There is currently a passionate discussion held about the skyscraper project by architects Eva Jiřičná and Petr Vágner planned in Ostrava.

This is Czech small-mindedness. All we can do is punish ourselves in order to remain a second-class nation. All the debates that are held regarding high-rise buildings here, all the reference to UNESCO… Prague does not need UNESCO, but UNESCO needs Prague. It is absolutely unacceptable for some UNESCO to dictate to us the height of buildings in Prague!

We should end in a positive way: What do you wish for?

I think that the positive thing about all we have been discussing is that we can change it, that we do not have to remain a secondary nation; we do not have to remain a country with the most desperate construction legislation. We can change all this and it can then serve as a tool for the prosperity of the Czech nation. If this country continues developing and has more inhabitants, then the probability that people will receive their pensions even after 2030 will increase. That is how I would conclude it.

Arnošt Wagner / Photo: PASSERINVEST GROUP

A window to art in architecture

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Václav Hlaváček is a relatively frequent guest on the Development News website. He mostly appears here as an architect and urban planner. But the scope of his activities is far wider…

In 1993, he founded Studio acht in Prague, which now employs 60 people and has branches in Brno and Olomouc. Other offices and associates operate in Rotterdam, Amsterdam, Curaçao in the Dutch Antilles and in New York. He says: “Today, the words like developer or corporate are an offensive term of abuse for a lot of young people. But when someone opens a pub and is successful, expands the business to 20 pubs, is it also corporate? A service to society needs a certain amount of strength.”

How am I supposed to understand that?

An individual approach to art is a given thing. There is a mainstream to which most adapt. But why? I like opera, but to make a living, I’ll sing pop. No way! The goal, on the other hand, is to learn the craft by simply continuing to promote my vision of what is good quality and what is not.

Aesthetics is a gift. What are some examples from the past?

I may surprise you, but I will jump 10,000–15,000 years to the past. Even then, people changed the image of the landscape through their agricultural activities without realizing it. And such crop plants as hornbeam, fir or beech are modern crops, which were have been introduced for some reason. So, the human element of the environment changed but did not have the strength to destroy it. It just modified it and thus cultivated it.

Other historical examples of aesthetics?

Something similar was happening in Great Moravia, for instance. There has been further progress, but not in the sense that people just destroy. There was an artist or craftsman sitting there and he made gold earrings, buttons, etc. Your heart will stop when you look at them. So, from today’s point of view, an undeveloped society is set next to a complete aesthetic peak.

What does it mean?

This means that the best artists were always individual forces who were well aware that they had a gift, a talent. How they worked with it and how they became integrated into that society was determined by what they did. Whether it was a glassmaker, artist, graphic artist, painter or architect. Of course, an architect has more resources, but it is all the more dangerous because architecture has more scope and power to change. Talent needs to be cultivated and cared for. To say: Come, don’t worry, you have nowhere to fall, go ahead. Artists have always had sponsors, even if they were called differently – a benefactor, philanthropist, patron, donor… Rilke had his sponsors. The same did the artists, such as Cézanne. Baťa, on the other hand, had his architects. So, it’s nothing new or bad. On the contrary, it is a means of confronting that pure talent with thousands of obstacles. If you have a one-hundred-member architectural studio, barely a tenth of them will be able to work something out of something, even if you have the best people there. The huge responsibility to enter the landscape and create some formation there, to go to reconstruction or monuments, to invent, for instance, individual housing, it doesn’t matter what. To make something out of nothing is very important and difficult. And that’s actually the beginning. And this is the reason why the Dutch respect landscapers because they have to create the landscape artificially. And because they create it artificially, they know well that the sea is a very large obstacle, a difficult opponent. They reshape their country with respect and a great deal of courage.

And is it different in our country?

We still sort of don’t care. We still have the orchard architect who will ‘somehow finish it’. And the artist in the same position: “After all, we will do it somehow well, and something might fit in here as well.” That is why I think that artistic perception should be evident in the approach from the very beginning and that we should not be afraid of leaving the most progressive younger people who mean it honestly. To give them some room some space. We have to admit to ourselves that it will cost money, but we as a company have the courage to stand behind it. Maybe it won’t work out sometimes. It is the same as the Kaplický’s Library. I was terribly saddened that the society-wide hysterical discussion took place over a picture in the newspaper. It totally strikes me that Prague has not found the courage to implement it. And since then, I do not believe that Prague will be a progressive city for the next 200 years. It’s just that the power isn’t there…

In the case of some buildings, the architect not only participated in their architectural form, but also created design down to the last detail – handles, hitches and even tea spoons…

I think that such actions should arise. You have to make time for them and get a little wrapped by the fact of being able to afford it. Not only as an investor, but also as an architect. Because that’s priceless today. I prefer that everything will be adjusted to the last detail in some publicly accessible building rather than in one individual villa – that there will be quality applied art. And I’m not a Marxist! But I think it’s important that the right art reaches all – or as many people as possible. To make a nice bus stop, railings, to use the correct shapes and colours. Cultivating society is much more important to me than whether someone gives me space before doing an interior down to the last detail. You will try this once, and not that I would not enjoy it, but you will find that there are more important things when it comes to cultivating the whole society. The artist has the gift of perceiving harmony within himself. He perceives several things at once. Someone is a greater technician or a greater philosopher. But artists, the right ones, are like mushrooms. They just absorb everything and are inspired – of course by nature, but also by society. They feel it.

And people will go aaahhhh…

Nine out of ten people will say that because they very quickly realise that someone said it half a second earlier. That kind of fascination is also a task of art, but it needs to be further explained or tried. In other words, great wealth should be invested in artistic yeast – albeit with a great deal of risk!

Today, buildings are mostly being built quickly to make money as soon as possible. How can art be crammed into that quick time?

Either it is ‘it’, even if it is put together hastily. A typical example is Renzo Piano, an absolutely fragile architect. He already has the art contained in that fragility. That’s is the brilliance about him. In order to be able to influence more developers and more projects at once – of course it’s different in industry and different in housing construction – you have to master the craft. This means that, for instance, in a residential project, every developer will tell you: “Well, you will build up to whatever number of square metres and you have to fit into this price. Because we sell it, and you know that, because you have redone it 20 times. But you have the confidence…” So, you can work with it as a cup with a handle that one can hold onto, coffee doesn’t spill out of it, etc. So, the craft, the skill, the fact that you know it, you know the numbers and you know how to make an administrative building, industrial hall, housing… You just have to have it tested. It’s like playing the violin – you have to practice daily. Otherwise, you cannot pass it on. You can’t become a virtuoso by just talking about it. This means that the studio must be constantly trained, it must continue in fermentation and it must still produce craft. The violinist has to practice the violin, sometimes take part in a concert, sometimes is applauded – and sometimes simply doesn’t succeed.

Which building caught your eye, even though it didn’t have a bombastic advertising campaign?

That’s a good question. But when it comes to little things or detail, what makes me very happy, for instance, is: the restoration of vineyards in Prague – Troja. It looks like a trifle, but it’s like if Troja was reborn. Just beautiful!

Arnošt Wagner / Photo: Studio acht

YIT launches the Lappi Hloubětín project

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The new Lappi Hloubětín project will be built in the immediate vicinity of the Suomi Hloubětín residential complex, thus expanding the Finnish district in Prague.

Almost 290 Finnish-style low-energy apartments and eight commercial premises will be built in three stages – Ranua, Kemi and Tornio – on a plot of about 1.2 ha, while the developer plans to put the first housing units on sale this autumn. Several dozens of apartments from the entire project will then be set aside for rental housing. YIT is now starting construction and the new owners should be able to move in at the turn of 2023 and 2024.

The new Finnish district in Prague will expand

The construction of the Lappi Hloubětín project between Kolbenova, Laponská and Granitova streets will begin with the Kemi and Ranua apartment buildings, followed by Tornio. It is Tornio that will bestow the whole complex with a distinctive face – it will take the form of a thirteen-storey tower.

“Our vision for the Suomi and Lappi Hloubětín projects was to cultivate the area of the original brownfield and turn it into a modern city district. We are very happy that we are doing well and that hundreds of satisfied families have already found their new housing in Suomi Hloubětín. Lappi Hloubětín will naturally follow with its urban design and style. A completely new Finnish district Is being born here and is to include approximately 1,200 apartments making it one of the largest residential complexes in Prague. There really is tremendous interest in the location: The apartments from almost every one of the stages implemented so far in Suomi Hloubětín were sold out before final building approval,” says Marek Lokaj, the Managing Director of YIT Stavo, adding: “Moreover, we plan, for the Lappi project, rental housing for people who don’t want to or cannot acquire the apartment into personal ownership.”

Nordic style and technological innovations

The architectural design, as in the case of Suomi Hloubětín, came from the workshop of the Loxia studio. Continuity was thus maintained: the whole concept is again carried out in the spirit of Nordic aesthetics with an emphasis on simple and straight lines. Once again, there will also be information pylons bringing interesting facts about the individual stages and about Finland itself, and the developer is setting them up throughout the complex. Apart from traditional materials and technologies, the developer also plans to use the most modern methods. “In Lappi Hloubětín, we want to work with partial use of spatial prefabrication technology, which enables higher precision and better-quality design,” explains Marek Lokaj. Similar to the Suomi Hloubětín complex, YIT plans to integrate into Lappi Hloubětín a rainwater retention system for the landscape, the system having minimal impact on the environment. There will be a number of elements built there, for instance retention tanks. The obtained water is to be used for watering within the complex.

Everything you need at hand

The advantages of the location include excellent transport accessibility. There is a bus and tram stop near the complex, and Kolbenova and Hloubětín B-route underground stations are just a few minutes away. Residents will also appreciate the easy connection to the Prague ring road when traveling by car. Neither is there a shortage of free time activities. The new district stretches along the Rokytka River, which was revitalized by the developer YIT creating pleasant relaxation zones. An attractive trail suitable for a wide range of recreational and sports use runs alongside. The Lappi Hloubětín project will enrich the entire site with shops and other commercial premises. The existing civic amenities are also varied, including a café, pizzeria, wine bar and grocery store. YIT is also building a nursery school there, which will be in operation from September 2022. Near the complex is a medical facility, swimming pool, post office and shopping centre.

www.yit.cz

The successful reside with us

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The Passerinvest Group has been developing the Brumlovka location in Prague 4 for a long time and makes it a pleasant place for work and to live. There you can find first-class offices, comfortable housing, shops and services, as well as lots of greenery and other areas for sports and relaxation.

The Passerinvest Group puts emphasis on the quality of all their buildings and the improvement of their surroundings, and thanks to many years of experience in this field, they are successfully building a fully – fledged city district there. The district will soon be enriched by new housing options or the increasingly popular model of flexible offices. As the Rezidence Oliva apartment building and the Olivka multifunctional centre are currently under construction. The opening of a new coworking space called FLEKSI is being prepared for this autumn.

Apartments in an attractive location near Park Brumlovka are already for sale

The architecturally unique Rezidence Oliva, which is currently under construction, will offer 72 bright and airy apartments with layouts ranging from bedsit with kitchenette to a 3-bedroom apartment with kitchenette. Each apartment has a terrace or loggia, a cellar and a parking space in the underground garage. „The building is developing every day. Now, we are getting above ground level. Since the start sales, we have been registering significant interest and we are very pleased that we can meet the demand of clients who are solving their housing situation and are excited about the local area. The same situation applies to the business units on the ground floor of the building, which are all already totally occupied. We are extremely satisfied with the sales development,” says Lenka Preslová, Sales Director at Passerinvest Group. Apart from the apartment building, they are also building the multifunctional centre Olivka, which will offer a café, nursery school, a unique model of the Swiss railway and also facilities and toilets for visitors to Park Brumlovka. Completion of both projects is planned for the end of next year.

In Brumlovka, you will also find a wide range of shops, restaurants and services as there is a post office, bank branches, college and primary and nursery school. The C underground line is within walking distance, or just one bus stop. For more information see rezidenceoliva.cz.

FLEKSI will move your business forward

The Passerinvest Group is also responding to an increasingly popular trend, namely the concepts of flexible offices. This November, they are, therefore, planning to open, in the recently reconstructed administrative building Budova B, a new coworking space called FLEKSI, which will provide those interested parties with jobs in closed offices as well as at the coworking level. Clients will be provided with a quiet space for work as well as meetings and networking, all in an area of 3,000 sq m on three storeys. Apart from standard work conditions, FLEKSI will offer meeting rooms of various sizes and what will also seem interesting will be the specially equipped space for creative workshops. Fully equipped kitchens and a complete reception service come as a matter of course. “Our clients will be able to arrange everything in an online environment using their own FLEKSI application, thanks to which they will become not only a part of the community within the premises, but also in the entire Brumlovka location. The application will also include a digital key, which will make the premises accessible to clients 24 hours a day,” adds Hana Gottwaldová, Operations Manager at FLEKSI.

Those interested will have the opportunity to have their ‘spot’ both in the long and short term, as well as a place for a one-time event, such as a company party or workshop. For more information see fleksi.cz.

PR

There is a lot of space on the market for leasing real estate

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The real estate market proved its strength during the pandemic. This is, above all, the stability and permanent long-term appreciation of investments.

Moreover, this is increasingly the case for the fast-growing residential rental market – and there is no indication that it will slow down. The coronavirus pandemic has obviously affected real estate markets in the short term. Even before its outbreak, the economy indicated that the driving force of the previous boom was running out. Nevertheless, the decline in GDP in 2020 was only 5.6%, i. e. lower than the expected 8–10%. The year and a half long experience with coronavirus tames even overly optimistic growth estimates for the future. The estimates currently work with GDP growth of 3.1% for 2021. However, the trend remains positive.

Apartment prices are rising

What is also important from macroeconomic parameters is the development of unemployment. This affects consumption and purchasing power, which is reflected in the demand for residential housing. Current forecasts predict a slight increase in unemployment to approximately 4.4%. So, the decisive factor will be how fast unemployment really rises.

Otherwise, conditions in the real estate market are relatively stable and individual factors balance each other. This was visible in the rapid recovery from the original slump in prices, which occurred immediately after the outbreak of the pandemic and lasted only shortly; it was soon replaced by rising real estate prices not only in Prague, but across all regions and especially in towns. On the one hand, there was the influence of an insufficient offer, which is, among other things, the result of a complicated modification of the building procedure. Another significant factor was the increase in household savings during coronavirus combined with high inflation (3.2%) and low mortgage rates (about 2%).

Thanks to this, we can expect further growth and continuation of commenced projects in development activities as well as in sales. This also applies to the area of residential projects intended for rent, which has been promised for a long time. This is due not only to the rising price level of new apartments, but also to the stricter regulation of mortgages by the ČNB, which ultimately leads to an advantage in long-term rental over home ownership, especially among young clients or those whose savings do not allow larger one-off investments.

This model is also attractive for investors, as it generates a regular yield of 3–5% (depending on the location) with the current rise in property prices. Even before the outbreak of the pandemic, it was possible to talk about a stable market segment. We can see in the current development that this is still a promising investment area as the prices in this segment also quickly returned to their original level after an initial short decline.

Specifics of the Prague market

A special case in this respect is the Prague market, where development has been contributed to by the high concentration of investment apartments used for short-term stays via Airbnb-type platforms. The decisive factor in stabilizing prices will thus be how quickly can ordinary tourism, from which the profitability of such a model is derived, be restored. In central parts of Prague, long-term rental prices have dropped by 10% – and this transitional situation is, in principle, still ongoing.

Positive impact of legislative changes 

There are also optimistic impulses. In total, the abolition of the real estate acquisition tax has a positive effect. This is negatively offset by the abolition of the possibility to deduct interest from the personal income tax base (does not apply to loans obtained before the end of 2021) and also by extending the time test for exemption of income tax from real estate sales from five to 10 years (for acquisitions after 1st January 2021). What is also expected is a relatively rapid increase in interest rates, the beginning of which we recorded in the growth of mortgage rates.

Bank and non-bank financing institutions also respond to market development. The optimism and relative stability of the real estate market is measured in the light of the fact that the pandemic is not over yet and investment prudence is certainly in place. There is a lot of room for lease financing of real estate. This provides a greater amount of security for the financing entity compared to traditional bank loans and allows for dealing more easily with more difficult situations that may arise on the part of clients – recently it was, for instance, the loss of rents due to government measures taken up in connection with coronavirus. The financial structure of real estate leasing thus makes it possible not to approach radical solutions and provides comfort for the long-term relationship that real estate financing represents.

Raiffeisen – Leasing projects

Raiffeisen – Leasing is a long-term leader in the field of non-bank real estate financing. They provide first class individual services to even the most demanding clients. This also applies to the area of development, where the client is assisted by a professional team that accompanies him throughout the financing period and helps in individual phases, from the preparation process to the completion of the construction. The quality of services is also evidenced by the fact that clients who have tried leasing financing of real estate repeatedly return to this solution.

The Prague projects financed recently by Raiffeisen – Leasing include, for instance, the Zátiší Rokytka residential project, and as for the non-Prague projects, the Farářství residential project in Hradec Králové.

PR / photo: shutterstock

There is a lack of land for industrial Development

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Panattoni Development Company has, since 2005, completed in Europe projects with a total area of over 12 million sq m. Panattoni is one of the most active developers of the sustainable industrial properties in the Czech Republic.

We spoke with the Panattoni’s Managing Director for CZ & SK, Pavel Sovička, about the current state of the industrial real estate market and its further development.

The development of industrial premises is currently experiencing a boom and it does not seem to have been hit by the coronavirus crisis. Or is it otherwise?

The coronavirus crisis has brought enormous dynamism to our segment as well as to the rest of the society as a whole. Yes, at first glance, this is mainly a demand boom. However, there is always a degree of imbalance between demand, financing, assets, land for development, construction costs and competition. For instance, in March 2020, demand fell to zero and some companies cancelled already launched projects. And during the summer, clients came with new demands, especially regarding the expansion of storage capacity related to the expansion of e-commerce. As at the end of the crisis year of 2008, banks stopped all funding for new projects for a short time, but this has changed since summer 2020. Today, major capital market transactions mostly involve industrial real estate. In the Czech Republic, there is a fundamental lack of land for the development of industry, and moreover, due to poorly set budget allocations of taxes, municipalities have no motivation to allow any development. Our activities are fundamentally focused on the development of brownfield sites. We hoped that the approach of individual communities would be much more supportive. Unfortunately, this is not the case and the Czech Republic is thus becoming a country that is battling everything and everyone. Moreover, competition from well-prepared locations in Germany, Poland and Slovakia, where individual regions are vying for production investors, is growing. In the Czech Republic, the mayor of the city does not, unfortunately, even meet with an investor bringing in investments in the order of billions. Another key factor is construction costs. At the moment, they are going up abruptly due to the prices of input material. Combined with rising land prices, the increase in prices is reflected in the level of rents, which is no longer competitive, even compared to Germany. So, the boom is here, but large and interesting projects of global companies will most likely not arise in the Czech Republic.

How much have industrial halls changed in the time you have been working in the field? And how have clients’ requirements changed?

Major changes are accelerating and will accelerate further in the coming years. Already in 2015, we systematically started building all projects in accordance with the BREEAM New Construction certification. We felt that this was the only way to sustainable development and its subsequent operation. Several of our buildings have received the highest ratings for industrial real estate in the world. Our efforts have also been compounded by the requirements of clients who are preparing their strategic operations for the near future, when each product will have a egistered and taxed carbon footprint. A major trend of logistics buildings is the construction of automated warehouses on several floors with a higher ceiling height. Obtaining a permit for a hall with a height of 20 m and more is, unfortunately, unrealistic in the Czech Republic, so we will lose the most modern projects that will be directed to Germany and Poland. Height goes hand in hand with an effort to minimize interference with the open landscape. Foreign companies will not invest in countries that have to build low-storey buildings and thus take up unnecessary land, as is contrary to their sustainable strategy. A strong topic in energy-intensive operations is also the requirement for the possibility of drawing energy from renewable sources. I agree that we do not have as much sunshine in the Czech Republic as they have in the southern countries and it will never blow here as it does by the sea. However, nothing prevents us from negotiating with countries that have better access to these resources or from investing in battery storage that would be suitable for energy storage.

Is it worth building speculatively today or do you focus mainly on Build-to-Suit (BTS)?

With regard to the extremely low rate of unoccupied premises in strategic locations such as Western Bohemia, Prague and its surroundings, Brno, Ostrava, Bratislava and Košice, we are embarking on speculative development. Due to the high prices of construction work and the lack of prepared land in the regions, we continue to focus on built-to-suit constructions – BTS. When it comes to these projects, specific conditions of rents and costs can be adapted to the particular situation.

How easy or complicated is it to currently find suitable land, when – as one of my colleagues says – the whole landscape is already ‘covered’?

This applies in particular to motorways. I recommend coming off the motorway from time to time and driving on roads of a lower class, for instance in the Central Bohemian Region. You will not come across any larger logistics or production hall within 50 or 100 km. The Czech Republic has chosen the path of industrial construction alongside motorways in a similar way to northern Italy. There is still plenty of land around motorways and motorway exits, which are now used only for extensive ‘industrial’ agriculture with monocultural thousands of hectares of fields. However, there are very few locations where the municipality does not block development, and the offer for tenants and users of business real estate is dismal compared to Germany. Our colleagues from the German branch even buy land cheaper than us in the Czech Republic, but commercial real estate is, in fact, one of the strategic infrastructures of modern economies.

In which direction – geographically and professionally – do you plan to expand?

Given the virtually non-existent state of investment in the development of road and rail infrastructure, we cannot expand sufficiently from a geographical point of view. However, we will develop our activities in areas that are infrastructurally developed and defined by good access to the motorway network. Due to our recent acquisitions of brownfield sites directly in Prague and Pilsen, we are preparing to enter the segment of business parks with a larger share of office space directly in logistics and production halls. We are also preparing initial projects for data centres.

Is the situation in Slovakia somewhat different from that in the Czech Republic?

Slovakia constantly invests in infrastructure and interconnections with neighbouring countries. Although I must admit that this pace is slowly declining and new opportunities for the development of industrial zones are still emerging. The connecting of southern and southwestern Slovakia to Austria, the Czech Republic and Hungary attracts many large logistics and e-commerce players. Moreover, East Slovakia also offers skilled and relatively cheap labour.

ak

Window glass – the alpha and omega of every nearly zero-energy building

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Window glazing is usually the most neglected part of the building. Most architects and investors primarily deal with the appearance of the window and the function and material of window frames in an effort to minimize heat loss in window openings and meet the conditions imposed on buildings within the framework of the amendment for almost all zero-energy buildings.

Glass is, however, an indispensable part of every window pane, from which it makes up 85%! The design of windows and glass should be defined clearly and comprehensibly in the project documentation for the construction. It is the specific positioning of the window, the orientation of the object and the maximum size of the glass surface that are the determining factor for correct and informed selection of the window. And it is necessary to add that the definition of triple glazing with Ug = XY, which is often used in the project, is totally insufficient.

Choosing the right glass

The window, from a thermal insulation point of view is often considered to be the weakest link in the perimeter cladding, should be an integral part of the design of the entire structure from the very beginning. Especially glazing; it is part of the construction product and is subject to laboratory and computing assessment procedures. Requirements for glass and opaque fillings are determined by the specific design of the product, the place of installation in the building and the system principles. The properties given to it during production will subsequently define not only its energy efficiency during construction, but also the internal environment of the building and the feeling that users will have inside. That is why the cooperation of specialists from several areas is necessary already during the design of glass and any order should therefore be preceded by carefully and well-processed project documentation, which clearly defines which types of glass will be used in which parts of the house. From the point of safety, protection against noise and heat leakage and, of course, the volume of transmitted natural light and heat moving into the interior, it can be clearly stated that there are requirements for different types of glazing in the building and therefore it is impossible to use the same type of glass in all windows.

What should an architect or designer know?

In order to achieve a quality and well-lit interior, the architect and designer should work effectively not only with the size of the window, but also with its properties.

The key questions in choosing correct and suitable windows are the following:

  • What are the client’s requirements for acoustics and airborne sound insulation Rw [dB]?
  • What is the orientation of the object with respect to the cardinal points of the world?
  • How will sun protection be solved in the building? Are outdoor blinds planned? Is it even possible to install blinds?
  • What is the client’s requirement for light transmission TL [%]?
  • What are the client’s expectations regarding visible external reflection Lr [%]?
  • What are the security requirements – either from the client’s point of view or with regards to security?
  • What are the requirements for the heat transfer through the glass, what heat transfer coefficient Ug through the glass is required and what is the required coefficient Uw for the whole window [W/m2K]?

Why is it necessary to start with acoustics?

Acoustics indirectly define the thickness of the glass and thus the desired profile. Unfortunately, it is never possible to choose glass that offers only the pluses – that means that it transmits light, but no heat. There is always a compromise to be reached. That is why when choosing each window in the house, it is important to consider what is most important for the users of the particular room.

One of the reliable innovative solutions that offer such a compromise is so-called insulating glass with a new generation of low-emission ECLAZ coatings from Saint-Gobain. Thanks to the innovative coating technology, insulating glass achieves above-average thermal insulation properties, high light transmission as well as high solar gains.

Glass as part of savings

So, it can be concluded that an ideal and correctly installed window with appropriately selected glass and quality frame should, depending on the orientation of the building, let into the interior as much light as possible, as much heat from the sun as possible and have the best possible thermal insulation properties – all under the assumption of functional exterior shielding. In short, it can be said that according to the strictest criteria at nZEB, the building cannot do without high-quality windows with responsibly and correctly selected glass specified on the basis of the expected properties.

PR

Top housing in a place that does not fall asleep

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The gap site between Verdunská and Jugoslávských partyzánů streets in Prague – Dejvice, near Vítězné Square, will take on a new shape. Or more precisely, it will vanish.

At the beginning of July, the building authority for Prague 6 issued a permit for the construction of Victoria Palace, a residential building to be built there by the development consortium of Penta Real Estate and Kaprain. This will end almost a century of groping around as to what to do with the place that is part of the valued concept of Vítězné (Victory) Square by the architect Engel from the 1920s. His vision was a modern cut of the north-western city modelled on the reconstruction of Paris in the 19th century; The Vítězné Square was to be the centre of events with a well-thought-out
arrangement of buildings in a circular floor plan. Due to the economic crisis and the World War II, only a torso remained from the original idea. It was not until 2010 that the LINE project by architect Radan Hubička, who developed it for PPF, was to change the location of today’s gap site. Whilst primarily the office building won the award as the project of 2013, the public nor some experts accepted it, though. The building permit for Victoria Palace therefore makes it possible, after many decades, to complete the missing piece of the story of the architectural change for the entire centre of Prague 6.

With respect to history

The architectural studio Jakub Cigler Architekti (JCA) suggested for the gap site a residential building that would represent an elegant modern realization of the original idea regarding the appearance of this part of the square. According to Engel’s concept, the building in today’s gap site was to be the axial counterpart of the Army General Staff building. In the plans, the two buildings were the same, only mirror-inverted.

Victoria Palace adheres to the original lines in the JCA design. The building of the General Staff and the modern residential house will be connected by similar elements, with the fundamental difference being within their conception by architects, who are about 90 years apart. Victoria Palace is really a mirror counterpart of the General Staff Building. The facades of both buildings have a significant vertical division. The main ledge is at the same height as the ledge of the General Staff building and in the upshot as the ledges of the surrounding buildings in the square. The saddle shape of the Victoria Palace roof formed by slats is a copy of the roof of the General Staff building. One would find a number of common elements in both buildings and also other houses in Vítězné Square.

Victoria with an overview

The Penta Real Estate and Kaprain consortium will build a nine-storey building in Vítězné Square for about a billion crowns. The building will come with a total of 97 flats, two underground floors for technical facilities, cellars and mainly 135 parking spaces. This will thus create 7,200 sq m of living space and 1,800 sq m for retail and services in an area of over 4,200 sq m. According to the requirements of the city district, there will be a supermarket, a pharmacy, a bank branch and also a mobile network operator. The apartments will be among the top offers in the capital. The larger one’s face both sides of the building – i. e. the square and the peaceful zone of a courtyard. The vast majority then come with outdoor loggias or terraces. This category of apartments is characterized by a high proportion of natural materials, and premium brands come as a matter of course with regards to the equipment. The open glazed facade divided by vertical lamellas, which is the dominant element of the building, allows a rich transmission of light into the interior of all residential units. “We have a number of higher standard residential projects that are of greatest interest in the market under construction,” says David Musil, Residential Development Manager at Penta Real Estate, adding: “Victoria is a different story. It has the same character as Trafalgar Square in London or the Leipziger Platz in Berlin. Places that do not fall asleep. Victoria represents exceptional housing in Prague, for which the price corresponds.” The apartments will be put on for sale in the near future. According to preliminary information, the price of a studio apartment, i. e. 33 sq m bedsit with kitchenette, exceeds CZK 7 million. The very best that Victoria has to offer are four penthouses situated on the top two floors, with sizes ranging from 130 to 202 sq m and terraces from 80 to 236 sq m. These apartments, for which their future owners can get directly from an elevator, will require tens of millions of Czech crowns.

A private garden in the courtyard will be available for the apartment owners; It is almost pointless to emphasize that it will come with trees, plenty of greenery and a water feature. This is just another of the benefits that are obvious to anyone who knows Prague: Victoria Palace will become part of the centre of the Prague location, which is characteristic for traditional residential functions in highly regarded areas, such as Ořechovka, Hanspaulka and the area surrounding Vítězné Square. Prague 6 alone is a city district with large green areas, to which we can also include a part of Prague’s Stromovka. It is no coincidence that this part of Prague has been chosen by a number of countries for their embassies. Victoria Palace is located close to the underground and Václav Havel Airport is also easily accessible.

Penta Real Estate has currently started preparing a building site and the Victoria Palace residence should be completed before the fourth quarter of 2023.

PR

EKOM: Ultra low-energy offices in Piešťany

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DELTAGroup began to conceptually solve the new construction of the administrative building and the extension of the parking house with an architectural study following the elaboration of a building study prepared on the basis of the development proposal for the entire production area of the investor EKOM spol. s.r.o.

The implementation of this administrative project designed in the BIM standard was launched in April 2017. Ing. arch. Adam Cifra from DELTA Group introduced it to our readers in more detail.

If someone remembers the EKOM project, what comes to mind?

An enlightened, ecologically minded investor who had the idea to create, in the workplace, an above-standard quality indoor environment for his employees. And also, the pioneering concept of an office building with a relaxation zone in the atrium. Our cooperation was not accidental. DELTA had already built a warehouse for EKOM in the past at agreed investment costs and also within a fixed deadline. We kept the promised guarantees, and that is the reason why the investor approached us again and together we embarked on further cooperation, which brought another successful project in Slovakia.

What functions and standards does the object have? What does this bring to the people who work there?

The above-standard indoor environment should contribute to the fact that work in this company is interesting for new employees and that capable people do not have to travel to Bratislava for work. The first step was to come up with an interesting and representative architecture and at the same time set the standard for the building. The investor became excited about new technologies and implemented some elements of green architecture. The radiant cooling and heating solution of the concrete core activation system is one of the main characteristics of the building. This was complemented with other technologies, such as additional ceiling panels for temperature adjustment, fresh air supply with heat recovery from the floor, temperature accumulation by massive concrete structures, utilisation of exterior blinds controlled automatically by a weather station, ventilation and bringing sunlight into the interiors in the atrium and the like.

The project preparation commenced in BIM in 2016. What were the conditions for working with this method in Slovakia at that time?

We tried to use the BIM standard for the professions of architecture, building construction, air conditioning and statics for the projection. It was primarily our initiative to implement a BIM standard project. From today’s point of view (five years later on), it was more of a 3D design. Today, we are much further along with BIM. At that time, we were unable to solve all professions in this standard in order to make it effective (e.g., wiring). Today, the situation is significantly better and more companies already have sufficient experience with this method.

What advantages did the client see in designing in BIM? Did he understand the benefits it brings?

The investor clearly saw the added value in this. For me, BIM brought easier communication, quicker understanding and approval of proposals by the investor, including more accurate creation of documents for tenders for construction and interior contractors. However, we encountered insufficient use in the construction. Here, the BIM model and information from the model were used more by us, DELTA as the author’s supervision. Roman Miklík from EKOM commented on this phase of implementation saying: “I would say that at that time implementation companies were not yet sufficiently set up in Slovakia.”

DELTA represented many positions in this project – from architectural, design activities, selection of construction contractors, construction management, technical supervision of the investor and author’s supervision. How could these functions be combined?

The project began to be solved by a building study of the development of the production area, the idea of which was prepared by the investor himself. After evaluating the outputs, we first implemented a warehouse, which freed up the necessary space in the area. Only then was the second stage started, namely the design of a new administrative and let’s say commercial and technical building and parking building. The scope of our activities and responsibility in the project grew gradually thanks to the fact that we were always able to provide the investor with all necessary activities and services. There we also achieved a high efficiency of activities and had a maximum overview of the project. What is interesting is that we have already incorporated the interior project into the project for a building permit. This is a very good practice if you are dealing with the construction for the end user and not as a ‘space for rent’.

How big were the demands of EKOM in assigning the project, which has been one of the pioneering ones in Slovakia since 2018?

The basic requirement was to be able to manage the project thoroughly from the beginning. This means controlling not only quality and deadlines, but also finances. Another factor for cooperation was to set a strategy for the tender process for the selection of contractors from the beginning. Maintaining the quality of the construction and good cooperation of professional companies on the construction at a reasonable price. The architecture and green standard of the building were then the icing on the cake of this project.

Can you specify any exceptional elements that you used in the project?

The building uses renewable sources, works with a system of heat pumps (air-water) up to a temperature of +7 °C, it is also ready to obtain energy from groundwater. However, this option was not implemented during construction due to the lengthy permitting process for the use of groundwater.

The building has already been in operation for three years. How did the overall analysis of data measurements turn out? Development and modern materials are moving forward very quickly. Is it possible to specify the amount of savings or pros and cons of the technologies used?

The investor has information regarding the condition of the building with the possibility of remote control. The implementation company, which dealt with heating, cooling and ventilation, also supplied the MaR system. For this reason, the setting up of the building is tuned to the maximum and the investor can rely on the operation of the system under the management of one company. We do not have information available for traffic data.

The current topical issue is greenery. Today’s demands on a modern working environment are not just about the building itself. Has the project also taken into account the positioning of the building within its surroundings?

The well-thought-out location of the building was already solved by a building study for the entire complex. Within this area, the building was positioned located as best as possible, which mainly refers to good transport connections, respect for other production facilities and suitable orientation of the cardinal points. The lack of greenery within the vicinity was replaced by the green walls of the building overgrown with climbing plants.

How did the EKOM project differ from other projects?

There are many aspects, but I will mention the following: the green standard of the building, the activation of the concrete core, the maximum use of natural or recyclable materials, charging stations for electric cars and an excellent culture of cooperation.

Nela Wagnerová

Photo: Delta Group