Two landmark projects built by OCTAGON, made public debut in 2014

With lots of projects under development and new investments on the pipeline, 2014 was certainly a dynamic year for the office segment. And developers rolled the dice in favor of OCTAGON. The company made the best of the market opportunities and managed last year to deliver two major office buildings, both of them located in Bucharest: Green Court Bucharest – building B and Hermes Business Campus- building B.

How did we do it? It was not easy, but we somehow managed to master extremely tough site conditions, we put in a lot of hard work and used the latest technologies in building processes. Below are highlights from each project.

As green as it gets

What did the real estate giant Skanksa envision when they decided to develop the office complex Green Court Bucharest? Large open office spaces, easy to reach from any area of Bucharest, with lots of green elements, in order to create a healthy comfortable working environment.

Green Court Bucharest - building A

How did this concept translate into design? The project includes three office buildings stretching over 52,000 sqm, built in Bucharest’s office hub, at the crossroads of Barbu Văcărescu Blvd and Pipera Road, within five minutes walk from Aurel Vlaicu metro station. Skanska also thought of making the project as green as possible and thus implemented  “green” solutions, such as glass façade with low heat transfer, natural lighting in over  85% of the working areas, power stations for electric cars charging, bicycle parking areas and facilities such as showers and locker rooms.

OCTAGON was hired to build the infrastructure and superstructure of building A and the superstructure of building B and successfully delivered both projects in 2013 and 2104.

Building A has a GLA of 19,500 sqm, 12 floors and is 91% leased by clients such as Schneider Electric România, Orange România, LS TRAVEL RETAIL Romania. The building was acquired by real estate investor Globalworth Real Estate Investments Ltd for 44 million euro.

Building B has a total GLA of 18.000 mp, 12 floors and 3 underground parking levels, with 315 available parking spaces. The second phase of the project also features sustainable solutions to minimize the impact of the building on the environment and to significantly reduce operational costs.

Modern technologies such as energy efficient double façade, efficient lighting systems, equipped with movement and intensity sensors, were used.

Beating the odds

In 2010 Belgian developer Atenor Group decided to build their first project in Romania, right across Pipera metro station. Building a 78,000 sqm office complex in a moment when the market was on a downward path seamed, at the time, extremely ambitious. Four years later, the first of the three buildings was delivered by OCTAGON and the company is now working on building the second one.

It sure was and still is a challenging project, but so far, it has beaten the odds. Hermes Business Campus started in a moment when the entire real estate market was on a downward path and few companies were thinking of relocating or leasing spaces in large scale office schemes.

Hermes Business Campus- building B

While building the first office unit of the complex, Austrian general contract, Alpine Bau, went bankrupt and OCTAGON, which was Alpine’s subcontractor, took over the project and continued the works.

Building B covers 37,000 sqm, has eight floors above the ground plus technical floor and is fully leased.  The Embassy of Netherlands, Xerox, SNC Lavalin and Synevo IT are among the tenants of the building.

On the western façade photo voltaic cells were installed, thus ensuring 7% of the entire energy consumption for one year.

OCTAGON used 31,000 cm of concrete and 3,600 t of metal fittings for the construction of building B. Three hundred people worked on the construction site and the project was delivered in June 2014.

The office building is currently being BREEAM certified with Excellent rating on-design and post-construction, which represents the best certification a building can obtain in terms of sustainable and green features.

Watch the video here:

  

OCTAGON CONTRACTING & ENGINEERING

More information here

Tel: (+40) 21 232 39 20

Video: Hermes Business Campus- execution of building B

In June 2014 OCTAGON CONTRACTING & ENGINEERING delivered the first building of the office complex Hermes Business Campus (Dimitrie Pompeiu Blvd.- Bucharest). The construction of the building stretching over 36,000 sqm and counting 4B + 8 E+ Technical floor in height began in December 2010. OCTAGON is now working on the second stage of the complex- building C. Hermes Business Campus, the first project of the Belgian company Atenor Group in Romania, will have three development stages and will cover 78,000 sqm at the end.  OCTAGON won the Quality Trophy ARACO 2014 with this project. The video renders the execution stages of building B.

OCTAGON CONTRACTING & ENGINEERING

More information here

Telefon: (+4) 021.232.39.20

OCTAGON ranks 20th in Top 100 General Construction Contractors in 2014

OCTAGON CONTRACTING & ENGINEERING ranks high in “Top 100 General Construction Contractors in 2014”, compiled by IBC Focus. The company ranks 20^th among the 100 selected companies, after having reached an 87 million lei turnover in 2013.

The first 300 general contractors with the NACE code 4120- construction works for residential and non-residential buildings were considered for selection, depending on the turnover and on the number of ongoing projects in the past 12 months. IBC Focus used 4 different sources of information: the Ministry of Finances, the National Trade Registry, the Investment Report and the answers received from companies, after filling relevant questionnaires. 

The top excluded the companies registered under NACE code 4120 which perform other activities than the construction of residential and non-residential buildings; companies that are part of a group of companies already represented in Top 100 General Contractors by another company; companies that reported turnover and activity at the end of 2013, but when the information was collected were in insolvency, liquidation, radiation or dissolution; companies that did not have any ongoing construction project in 2013.

The company ranking first in top 100- Strabag SRL had a 1.1 billion lei turnover, while the last company in the top posted a 30 million lei turnover.

The first 10 positions in the top were filled by Strabag, Bog’Art, Astaldi Spa, Aktor Societate Tehnica Anonima Aktor, Vega 93, Con-A, P.A.B. Romania, Danya Cebus Rom, Constructii Erbasu and Aedificia Carpati.

2013 marked a strong recovery of OCTAGON CONTRACTING & ENGINEERING on the construction market. The company contracted six new projects and performed construction works worth around 20 million Euro- 87 million lei, in Romania and in Irak, where Octagon has a branch.

Thus in 2013 OCTAGON became general contractor for the office complex Hermes Business Campus- located in Bucharest, Dimitrie Pompeiu Blvd. OCTAGON performed superstructure, electrical and sanitary  installation and HVAC, concrete reinforcement works, the construction of the underground levels -4 and -3 and lifted the superstructure of building B. The works were worth 13 million Euro.

In 2011 OCTAGON build the foundation in top- down system, for two underground levels, within the office complex Hermes Business Campus.

Another project representative for the office market in Romania, in which the company was involved, is the office complex Green Court Bucharest (Gara Herastrau St.- Bucharest) where OCTAGON performed infrastructure and superstructure works for buildings A and B.

OCTAGON started last autumn the special foundation and infrastructure works on the office building PC Business Center (7- 9 A Bucharest- Ploiesti Road).

In 2013 OCTAGON also started the special foundation works on two projects in Iraq:  Al Zawraa Stadium in Baghdad and the Electric Power Plant 1,250 MW Shatt Al Basra.

Hermes Business Campus

Green Court Bucharest

PC Business Center

OCTAGON CONTRACTING & ENGINEERING

For more information click HERE. 

Phone: (+4)021.232.39.20

See on map

CBRE: Western European Office Market Takes-Off With Highest Demand Since Financial Crisis

•  London recorder highest demand increase: 29%
•  Paris was the city with the highest volume of rented office spaces in the past two years
•   In Milan the volume of rented spaces doubled

The demand for office space across Western Europe has hit its highest level since the financial crisis, according to the latest research from CBRE, the global real estate advisor.

City Tower Sofia - executant OCTAGON

Corporate real estate occupiers are returning to the market with new office space requirements as demand in the second quarter (Q2) of 2014 rallied by 21% on the first quarter, marking the highest Q2 office take-up in Western Europe since the economic downturn. Central to this was strong activity in Milan and Lisbon, while London retained its dominant position as a popular destination for corporate occupiers with a 29% quarterly take-up increase. Milan’s take-up more than doubled in Q2 to 94,000 sq m while Lisbon recorded one of its strongest quarters in recent years. In addition, the Paris office market which had been subdued during the downturn with occupiers lacking the confidence to relocate, posted its highest office take-up level for two years in Q2, representing a 28% uplift from Q1. Across Europe as a whole, aggregate take-up rose by a healthy 12.2% compared to the first quarter of the year.

City Tower Sofia - executant OCTAGON

As a result of this increased demand, the aggregate office vacancy rate in Western Europe fell in Q2. Central London saw a third consecutive quarterly decline in vacancy rates with prime space now in very short supply. Likewise, increased demand for office space in Brussels, Paris and Amsterdam also contributed to vacancy declines. Frankfurt saw the most noticeable drop, where vacancy fell sharply for the second consecutive quarter due to the removal of obsolete stock and the conversion of older commercial buildings into residential units. Despite this, the overall vacancy rate remained flat across Europe for Q2 skewed by a large volume of new office completions in core Central and Eastern European (CEE) markets which are yet to be occupied. For example, office stock is forecast to grow by at least 10% in Prague, Warsaw, Moscow and St Petersburg over the next 18 months, a large percentage of which is being built on a speculative basis.

City Tower Sofia - executant OCTAGON

The knock-on-effect of office vacancy declines, particularly in Western Europe, is likely to put upward pressure on prime rents in the longer term. Madrid, for example, has seen its prime rent increase from €24.50/sq m per month to €24.75/sq m per month in Q2, its first rental growth since the recession, symbolic of improved economic stability. The strongest performing office markets continue to see the steepest rises in prime rents, Dublin saw rents rise by a huge 14.2% in Q2 to €430.50/sq m per annum driven, in part, by strong demand from Technology, Media and Telecoms occupiers. London’s West End market recorded a 2.4% increase in rental growth across the same period.

City Tower Sofia - executant OCTAGON

Tim Hamilton, Senior Director, EMEA Global Corporate Services, at CBRE explains: “We are seeing greater corporate appetite to lease or acquire space, particularly across Western Europe, which is encouraging. It signifies that corporate occupiers who have been hamstrung in recent years by tightening budgets and stringent cost management strategies resulting in a contraction of take-up levels, are now in a position to flex their muscles and take new space. As the markets become more buoyant, the growth in prime office rents is likely to become more widespread over the next 12 months particularly given the short supply and a relatively thin office development pipeline. Having spent a number of years taking advantage of falling rents, occupiers will need to start factoring in potential future rental increases into their strategic decision making.”

OCTAGON CONTRACTING & ENGINEERING

For more information click HERE. 

Phone: (+4)021.232.39.20

See on map