What makes the best office buildings stand out

The main factor that can distinguish an office complex is location. And the exclusive location combined with the unique architecture and standard of the facility may determine whether the offer is unrivaled on the market. The most prestigious investments in Poland provide such advantages, which, apart from a great location, form and quality of finishing, include comfortable amenities on site.

 - The opportunity of locating headquarters in a unique, stylish building, universally recognized and belonging to the group of the highest scored office buildings on the market is  valuable for tenants. It  is crucial for building the company's position - says Bartłomiej Zagrodnik, CEO of Walter Herz.

- When we talk about a unique location in Warsaw, the highest scores show, among others, centrally located facilities that provide a direct connection or proximity to a metro station. This is a rare asset that only a few metropolitan office buildings can provide. Most of them are still under construction - notes Bartłomiej Zagrodnik.

One of the capital buildings is particularly noteworthy. The unusual location will be the hallmark of Central Point building, which will be overhanging the Świętokrzyska metro station. Placing the office building in such a prominent place, where two lines of the Warsaw metro cross, is a demanding and difficult investment, but also a very profitable undertaking. This location will be an added value and a great form of brand promotion for companies that will move into the office building once it is completed.

Today, all new projects offer high-class office space, but in order to stand out on the market, they need something more. Presentable common areas, advanced technological solutions, a wide range of services and recreation zones within the complex. Especially at a time, when the quality of the office market in Poland is growing rapidly.

According to Walter Herz consulting company, about 70 per cent of office investments that are currently under construction in the country are prestigious facilities, that offer the highest quality space, which is confirmed by the certificates they obtain.  

Both in Poland and all over the world, the design of modern buildings is now focused on aspects related to human health and those that affect the comfort of using the facilities. The level at which buildings are considered human-friendly is measured by the WELL certificate. In Poland, only a few complexes have it, which certainly distinguishes them form the others.

The amenities offered by the best office facilities are aimed at creating a favorable environment for people, where they can feel at home. The space where it is nice to work, but also spend time after hours and the most popular services could be used on the spot. Therefore, the owners of complexes locate their kindergartens, laundries, shops, parcel kiosks, ATMs, medical centers, fitness clubs, city bike stations, and even electric car charging stations and car washes.

In addition, in the buildings which are appealing from market perspective, applications downloaded to smartphones are increasingly replacing access cards. They also allow for the control of lighting, air conditioning, or reserving conference rooms. Moreover, they allow for calling the service, if there are technical problems, and even place orders for services and check the traffic status on the exit roads from the office building. Parking spaces are equipped with car recognition systems.

The managers of the most interesting facilities also undertake broader initiatives aimed at activating the community, thanks to the effective development of the area in the vicinity of the office buildings. The best example is Plac Europejski square, a public space created by Warsaw Spire in Warsaw, where shows and various types of outdoor events are organized. An interesting way to stand out is, for example, locating the popular in Warsaw Bio Bazaar at Empark complex. Such operations make the area on which the complexes are located teeming with life throughout the day, which serves the broadly understood integration and attracts tenants.

The most interesting office complexes are perfectly suited to the existing urban infrastructure and are open to external users. There are exclusive restaurants, terraces and shopping malls in them. This way, as living urban organisms blend into the city structure and function as an integral part of it. They are often mixed-use facilities, such as OVO complex in Wrocław with a hotel, office, apartment and service part, or Warsaw Browary Warszawskie complex.

Modern office facilities are adapting to the growing startup culture in Poland at an increasingly fast pace. Spaces for co-working and co-creating zones are created in the buildings already at the design stage. A good example is Warsaw HUB, which is under construction in Warsaw. It will include co-working part of MeetDistrict and The Heart Warsaw, a platform connecting startups with banks and international corporations.

Office buildings standing out on the market, also derive from the increasingly appreciative idea of ​​sharing economy. It is about sharing, not only office space in a co-working system, which results from changing the style of work, which is increasingly taking the form of a remote or design, but also various utility goods. In the fastest-developing office buildings one can find hourly car rental, which are available, for example, in the new D48 office building in Warsaw.

The office sector also focuses on sport and healthy lifestyle. Today, almost every office building handed over includes a fitness club, but there are also office buildings that include more developed sports offer. The facility that stands out in this respect is Warsaw Adgar. From the very beginning, the complex focused on sport, which today is the hallmark of this investment. There is also a jogging track and a bike path on its premises, and the hotel has its own bike rental, swimming pool and squash court. The building also houses a dance academy and free running and cycling trainings are organized.

Some office buildings have  impressively large fitness clubs. In Katowice’s Silesia Star complex, the gym occupies almost 2,000 sq m and is located on two floors. In Wroclaw’s OVO, the fitness zone extends over an area of ​​around 1.5 thousand sq m. In the most interesting office buildings, one will also find spacious gardens and large, green terraces.

Architecture is the element that gives commercial facilities a unique identity. Extraordinary projects, drawing attention with its extraordinary architectural concept are conquering the market. Warsaw’s Varso will undoubtedly be one of them. This multi-functional project, implemented by the Central Railway Station, at the corner of Aleja Jana Pawła II street and Chmielna street, will feature three towers, one of which will be the tallest building in Poland. Thus, when Varso will be handed over, it will automatically take a unique position on the Polish office map.  

Facilities’ unprecedented stylistics is also ensured by historical walls. Developers are eager to invest in old, often historic buildings, which are undergoing a modernization process, if they are attractively located. The revitalized industrial buildings of old factories give the investments a unique character.

Among the most interesting Warsaw projects which utilize historical buildings is ArtN complex, in which the buildings of the Norblin factory at Żelazna street are being renovated. Also, EC Powiśle project emerging at the site of the former Powiśle Power Plant or the Praga’s Koneser, in which the modernization of factory buildings at Warszawska Wytwórnia Wódek played a major role. These complexes, thanks to their multifunctionality and non-standard architecture, not only stand out on the market, but also help the quarters in which they are located, gain a new life.

Developers, in their efforts to make their office buildings stand out on the market, are going a step further. To raise the prestige of buildings, they reach for works of art. By introducing art to common space of office buildings or arranging exhibitions in their interiors and promoting artists, they also create a positive image of the places that gain in the eyes of the users.

Warsaw office complex located on Bobrowiecka Street is the most famous for art promotion. It houses Spectra Art Space, a modern space dedicated to contemporary art, which was established with the initiative of Starak Family Foundation. It includes works of prominent artists from all over the world, to be admired by everyone. Moreover, the sculptures of famous artists are surrounding the office building.

Prosta Tower in Warsaw is also associated with art. There is an exhibition of sculptures by Paweł Orłowski in front of the building,. Warsaw’s Spark office building will feature a mural by the well-known watercolorist Tytus Brzozowski. Paintings of the Polish artists were also put on display in the common space of  Eurocentrum complex in Warsaw. Whereas, Q22 office building includes furniture of the well-known Polish artists and designers, as well as the balancing sculpture of Jerzy Kędziora.