In reality, it often happens the developers give scores to their investments all by their own. In the end, two completely different office buildings may have the same A - class category. In general, two buildings may belong to the same class however if we analyse the architectural and structural solutions that influence the functionality it turns out that those two buildings offer completely different standards in fact. - comments Agnieszka Poplawska from TPS, the developer of Olivia Business Centre.
So far, the office buildings classification standards have not been specified in Poland. It allows many inaccuracies and subsequently certain abuses. It is obvious that A - class classification for a building means that its value increases therefore a good class of the building is a high priority for developers and investors because then the prices for rent may be raised. That often leads to a situation where the class of a building is better than it should be, and the standard of certain office buildings differs between one another.
So how do we recognise the characteristic features of an A - class building ?Olivia Business Centre took a closer look at the criteria and basing on their own experience they gave us some features we should expect from such a building. They particularly emphasised a location in the city centre, access to public transport (if we take a look at Trojmiasto there is Szybka Kolej Miejska plenty of bus stops, large shopping malls - Alfa Centrum, Galeria Baltycka, and separate space for bikers to ride) and modern architecture ( the reality shows us that only new buildings can get A-class, and not the old ones adapted as office buildings). The important feature would also be at least 2 independent sources of energy, 3 fast elevators, and the height inside should be not less than 2,7m . Tenants often focus on parking spaces therefore the developer decided that there should be at least 1 parking space for every 100 sq. meters of office plus parking for bicycles (with health and safety features), guests and of course 24h surveillance.
Other features that make an office building receive and A-class would be for instance a canteen, location close to shopping and sports centres, ergonomic office spaces which can be easily rearranged, ceilings that lack structural elements, floors made out of units that allow quick changes of layout, state of the art wiring system, elasticity of the building providing the fulfillment of all the customer's requirements, the system that monitors the humidity of the air and a maximum of sunlight.
Categorization of the standards of office buildings is very important and particularly helpful for the tenants when they choose a building for them. Unfortunately, the official record of those standards has not been established yet.