Skanska Property Poland has launched the development of its second office investment in Łódź. The building, named Nowa Fabryczna, will be developed at the junction of Knychalskiego and Składowa Streets in the vicinity of the New Center of Łódź (Nowe Centrum Łodzi). The scheme will offer its tenants ca. 21,500 sqm of modern office and service space. Its completion is scheduled for Q2/Q3 2017.
The Nowa Fabryczna project will comprise seven floors above ground and two below with 210 parking bays available for tenants. Currently, preparations for the building's construction works are being carried out on the investment’s premises. The building is designed to meet the needs of approximately 2,200 employees.
The scheme’s name directly refers to both the city’s character and its location. The Nowa Fabryczna building will be located just a few minutes’ walk from Dworzec Fabryczny railway station which, after its re-modernization, will become one of the most modern public transportation hubs in Poland. The office building will play a significant commercial role in the New Center of Łódź, one of the most spectacular urban redevelopment projects in Central Europe, which combines business, trade, culture and transport.
“Łódź is currently undergoing rapid development. This is illustrated by the number of investments in the city currently under construction or in the planning stages. Łódź has many qualities that make the city an attractive location including the city's location at the very center of Poland and the fact that it is one of Poland's major academic centers. Furthermore, significant communication projects and investments are being developed in the city, such as the aforementioned New Center of Łódź, Dworzec Fabryczny railroad station and the W-Z tunnel that links the east and the west of the city. All of these projects have encouraged us to develop two new projects in the city with Nowa Fabryczna being one of them,” comments Łukasz Kaleciński, Regional Director for Region North at Skanska Property Poland.
Nowa Fabryczna office building was designed so that it will successfully blend in with the surrounding area of New Center of Łódź. The building will comprise a spacious, green patio, modern bicycle infrastructure including urban bicycle stations as well as loggias located on each of the scheme’s floors that will be at the tenants’ disposal.
“New designed office park in Łódź was a great challenge for architects. Location in contemporary and dynamic context of refurbished railway station Łódź Fabryczna and new development zone: Nowe Centrum Łodzi was an amazing inspiration to design a new landmark of rapid development and contemporary architecture, especially because the building would become the context itself as one of the first being built in that zone due to the urban Master Plan. Flexibility and functionality which are always strong points of Skanska office buildings are being accompanied by original and custom design facade, which should become recognizable factor among other contemporary office buildings”, emphasises Łukasz Zagała and Przemo Łukasik, the architects of medusa group studio.
Nowa Fabryczna will be developed in accordance with the principles of sustainable building. This will be confirmed by solutions applied within the building. The modern bicycle infrastructure will include urban bike stations. There will also be charging points for electrical vehicles. Technologies applied within the building will significantly reduce both water and energy consumption. Furthermore, the scheme’s green credentials will be confirmed by it attaining the international LEED Gold certificate.
Nowa Fabryczna is the second office scheme developed in Łódź by Skanska Property Poland. The first, Green Horizon, located in close proximity to Solidarności Roundabout, was sold to Griffin Real Estate fund in Q3 2014. The investment’s success has now encouraged Skanska Property Poland to launch Nowa Fabryczna. Furthermore, in June 2015 the company bought land for the City Gate (Brama Miasta) – the New Center of Łódź's flagship investment.
Silesia architectural studio, medusa group, is responsible for the building’s design. Skanska S.A will be its general contractor while Skanska Property Poland will be responsible for the scheme’s commercialization.