West Gate received a certificate with a very high result, that is 72,8 per cent. It allows to grant the office Excellent degree and it is worth mentioning that such a high grade was received only by 12 other office investments in Poland. Among elements assessed by the auditors there are i.a. energy efficiency, applied materials, healthy work environment and waste management.
Such a high grade of West Gate is a reason for us to be very pleased. The certification of offices is not only a new method of designing any more. It became a common ground with users of our investments who expect very good office projects, just as we do. West Gate is an office which totally used the potential of a certification, combines excellent compositional and material elements with sustainable and energy-saving solutions, which is a determinant of a modern architecture – comments Katarzyna Murdoch, engineer for BREEAM, associate judge of BREEAM International in Echo Investment. The process of certification concerning West Gate will be conducted by Grontmij Poland.
The portfolio of Echo Investment includes 11 buildings which received BREEAM certificates – West Gate and Q22 offices, two buildings of Park Rozwoju in Warsaw, Aquarius Business House in Wrocław, I and II stage of A4 Business Park in Katowice, Oxygen in Szczecin (2 BREEAM In-Use certificates: Building Management and Asset Rating), Amber Gallery in Kalisz, CHR Galaxy in Szczecin, Olimpia Gallery in Bełchatów and Echo Gallery in Kielce.
BREEAM is a method of ecological assessment concerning friendliness of buildings which requires a scoring-based evaluation of a structure. Gained points are then calculated on per cent which are multiplied by a weight assigned for a certain category. As a result, all points give a grade in a 6-level scale: <30 per cent – Unclassified, 30 per cent – 44 per cent – Pass, 45 per cent – 54 per cent – Good, 55 per cent – 69 per cent – Very Good, 70 per cent – 84 per cent – Excellent, >85 per cent – Outstanding. The most common kinds of certificated are BREEAM Interim (project stage of investment), BREEAM Final (confirmation of project) and BREEAM In-Use (existing building).
West Gate is a modern building class A which offers 16 200 sq. m of office area. The investment is located at Lotnicza Street at the crossroads of Na Ostatnim Groszu and Legnicka Streets which guarantees a perfect exposition of the building.
The investment is rented in 100 per cent. The process of commercialization was completed by contracts (jointly 500 sq. m) with Aviva and a company from financial consulting which functions under Expander brand. The main tenant of the office area in West Gate is Nokia Networks company (14 000 sq. m). Moreover, there will be a new headquarters of Deichmann Obuwie Sp. z o.o. company (1200 sq. m), Enel-Med medical center (300 sq. m) and canteen run by K&D Foods company (320 sq. m).
The architectural project of West Gate was prepared by Arcad studio from Kielce. The building is composed of six aboveground tiers (offices) and two underground tiers (car park). It is designed in the form of a close solid in the shape of „L” letter. Furthermore, big and glazed areas dominate on the elevation, thanks to which the offices are optimally lighted. The office will be equipped with access control system, fast and quiet elevators, energy-saving air conditioning and ventilation, air humidity control system, suspended ceilings and stands for bicycles as well as changing-rooms and showers for bicyclists. The users of West Gate will also have a canteen and relaxation places on fresh air at their disposal. The investment will be commissioned in April this year.