The office as a cultural element and supporting the realization of ESG goals? Yes! Rental rates and a prestigious location are still an important factor in the decision-making process. However, conscious companies inspiring their teams to work effectively and creatively, building viable strategies for social, environmental and corporate governance responsibility, are placing more and more specific requirements when choosing a location for their headquarters. This was the case with Alior Bank, which recently decided to move its Tri-City office to Palio Office Park in the Young City in Gdansk.
Companies today are taking an ever-wider range of factors into account when creating strategies for their organizational structure, personnel policies and locations. Preferred work models are changing, and the focus is on attracting and retaining talent and creating an organizational culture conducive to achieving business goals. This is compounded by the need to align corporate operations around decarbonization and pro-environmental goals to support the fight against climate change. Offices and companies’ broader real estate strategies are an important part of plans that respond to these calls. Representatives of Alior Bank, which decided this year to move its Tri-City headquarters to Palio Office Park in the Young City, and Cavatina Holding, an office developer and owner of a complex under construction on the grounds of the Gdansk Shipyard, talk about the process of choosing the ideal location for workspace for teams of thriving companies.
Alior Bank, one of the most rapidly growing Polish banks, has Head Offices in Warsaw, Krakow and Gdansk. Alior Bank creates a dynamic work environment for its employees by placing emphasis on a relaxed organizational culture and direct communication. As the Bank’s representatives admit, when choosing the building in the Palio complex as the new location of the Head Office in Gdansk, they were not concerned only with the economic interest of the company.
“We believe that business should bring wide-ranging benefits to all stakeholders: employees, local communities and the environment. Therefore, when evaluating potential new offices for our team, we outlined criteria related to our ESG strategy. Palio Office Park best meets these needs of ours,” says Kamila Skibińska Director of Logistics Department, Alior Bank.
E – Environment
For Alior Bank, the conditions to be met were a certified, energy-efficient building to reduce its carbon footprint, as well as the use of smart solutions to minimize the environmental impact of using the building.
And Palio Office Park is an example of modern, high-tech work and leisure space with full respect for the historical heritage of the Gdansk Shipyard.
“The Palio A building has received a BREEAM rating of Excellent, and in the verification process was highly rated for sustainable water and energy management, the materials used in its construction, as well as for being very well prepared in terms of Health and Wellbeing, among other things. It’s especially important to us that our city-building projects are built in a sustainable way that respects the environment, and meets the expectations of the people who work in them and other users. Certification in the multi-criteria system, which is already well known in Poland, is a credible showcase for a building. We are also one of the few entities that already calculate the carbon footprint of an investment in all three scopes,” comments Tomasz Zydorek, Leasing Director at Cavatina Holding.
S – Social responsibility
In an area related to maximizing user comfort and the cultural role of the office, the tenant was keen on the possibility of flexibly adapting the space to, among other things, a hybrid working model with the possibility of booking workstations and parking via a mobile app. Listening to the expectations of its teams, the Bank also wanted to ensure that windows could be opened to provide a supply of fresh air in addition to forced circulation. Another important factor in evaluating the property was the facility’s energy security – ensuring uninterrupted customer service processes in the event of power outages.
“Palio Office Park also met the tenant’s requirements for the possibility of arranging comfortable work areas equipped with game and relaxation rooms, meeting rooms, an exercise room, a hotdesk area and training space. Another advantage of our investment is its location with quick access to public transportation (especially SKM and TRAM),” adds Tomasz Zydorek, Leasing Director at Cavatina Holding.
G – Corporate governance
Today, the efficient management of a company relies heavily on a good communication system and the reliability of technology to support its processes within the organization and in relation to business partners. Alior Bank expected teleconference rooms to be equipped with equipment that allows real-time contact with other units, which reduces decision-making time and business travel costs.
The tenant also wanted to optimize the occupied office space in order to minimize costs and adapt to the current employment conditions and working model.
“What further distinguishes Palio Office Park and our other developments is the comprehensiveness of Cavatina Holding’s offering. We understand well the changing needs of companies, and we know how complex and labor-intensive the process of planning a new space and moving process is. That’s why we also offer our clients services related to space plans, defining the needs as to the function of the office, designing and preparing the space,” Tomasz Zydorek, Leasing Director at Cavatina Holding, concludes.
Palio A is the first building in the complex owned by Cavatina Holding, which will be completed in 2021. It offers more than 16,000 sqm of GLA, which is spread over 8 floors above ground. It provides more than 270 parking spaces for motorists, while two-wheeled enthusiasts will enjoy bicycle parking spaces and an extensive infrastructure for cyclists, including locker rooms and showers. The building is distinguished by its massing that fits perfectly into the fabric of the city, referring to the history of the place, primarily to the shipbuilding industry.
