“Squarebizz has filled a gap on the market, it is an interesting and unique project that is definitely worth noting,” said Mário Klas, Head of Property Management. Take a look with us at Squarebizz through the eyes of one person who is perhaps closest to it.
What does Squarebizz represent to you?
At first glance and after a brief introduction to the project, I was immediately convinced that this is something that has been lacking on the Slovak market for a long time. Today, the situation on the market is such that if you need modern and nice warehousing space, almost no one will even talk to you if you are looking for less than 3,000 m2. Most logistics halls operate with modules of 3,000 m2 or higher, perhaps if a co-tenant is found, then spaces measuring 1,500 m2 may be considered.
The second option is to find a space with a similar size to what you need, but you will probably only find something similar in old warehouses that are more than thirty years old, on the outskirts of cities in industrial zones, or old brownfield sites.
In that case, you can probably forget about nice office space that would be part of or associated with the warehouse you are looking for, and I’m not talking about if your warehouse and retail space should also include a shopfront and let’s say some footfall, so with probability equal to certainty you can forget that you will be able to find something similar in Slovakia.
That is why we developed the Squarebizz project, which is directly created and designed for the needs of entrepreneurs, companies or tradespeople who are looking for new beautiful and ecological spaces with modular rental space, with offices directly implemented in each rental unit, with the ability to have a really large shopfront and, mainly in a location where there is a lot of movement of people and where people like to stop even if they are just passing by.
Squarebizz Bory offers modular rental units from 450 m2 with or without a glass shopfront (showroom) and with built-in modular offices. There are three types of in-halls to choose from – type 1 (ground floor): 41 m2, type 2 (two-story) 82 m2 and type 3 (two-story – extended) 117 m2. In addition, and upon tenant request in the case of a long-term contract and mutual agreement, we can also build a custom-made built-to-suit in-hall.
We really consider the Squarebizz project to be extremely flexible, eco-friendly, nice and, so to speak, in the middle of the action. At the same time, it fulfils all our criteria with regard to the zone, easy accessibility and visibility, as it is located in one of the fastest developing areas of Bratislava – Devínska Nová Ves, Bory in the vicinity of other projects. It is directly accessible from the D2 highway or from Karlova Ves in the direction of Devínska Nová Ves, and the D2 highway is planned in the future between Squarebizz and the Metro building.
A little high-minded, but in other words we could say there are only benefits!
Really, without exaggerating in any way, we are proud of our project and, above all, we are convinced that we are delivering something that has been missing on the real estate market for a long time, and with this project we will provide space for companies looking for new, modern, ecological, easily accessible, visible and mainly modular spaces for storage, production, services and the like.
What are the updates regarding the progress of the project?
We started construction of the 2nd phase of the project. The first phase has been completely finished and approved – we are talking about Halls A, B and E, and we are currently in the process of placing tenants in our new premises.
Phase 2, Halls C, D, F and G will be completed by the end of February next year and we already have several tenants contracted for these spaces today.
As you can already see today when you visit Squarebizz Bory, STK TUV-SUD, Kellys Bikes, Body Fit are in full operation, Valivé Ložiská, ExpresTlač, Alpod and others are starting up. Virtuplex, which plans to launch the largest virtual reality studio in the world this fall, will also be of great interest.
We are extremely happy that we managed to complete all the landscaping improvements, plant trees for the entire first phase and complete the green roof. We are working intensively on the information and navigation system within the area, branding and the overall design manual of the project, as we care a lot about technical quality, flexibility and accessibility, and the overall visuals, aesthetics and, above all, ensuring the entire project offers a pleasant environment.
We want our tenants to feel good in Squarebizz, and just as importantly our tenants’ customers and all Squarebizz Bory visitors to feel the same.
What is the main goal for you to focus on?
The main goal is to bring to market a quality and unconventional project, something that is conceptually new, practical, attractive, efficient and sustainable. Of course, an equally important goal and priority is to have satisfied tenants and to properly care for the project, not just bringing it to market. This means providing services of a higher standard than those provided by large logistics centres and being inherently more communal, unlike large logistics halls, where the coexistence of individual tenants is largely impersonal.
We think that the combination of a good project, satisfied tenants and community coexistence can bring interesting synergies and attract a lot of customers, which will in turn benefit our tenants in particular.
Our long-term goal is to build a Squarebizz network in all larger cities for which such a project would be suitable and attractive throughout Slovakia. We are also working on the launch of the same project in the Czech Republic and Poland, where Karimpol has been established for a long time. I cannot forget the parent country of Austria, where Squarebizz projects of a similar type are already standing.
What are the most interesting technical parameters and facts?
The basic supporting structure of the project consists of a prefabricated reinforced concrete frame covered with 180 mm thick sandwich panels and a roof structure made of trapezoidal sheet metal insulated with 260 mm of mineral wool and a 100 mm thick vegetation extensive green roof, which is far superior compared to the construction of large logistics halls.
The primary energy of the buildings was calculated at 127 kWh/(m2.a), which places our buildings in category A1 in terms of building energy efficiency..
Clearance inside the space is 7 m, and all structures have a concrete floor slab with an average accuracy of flatness according to DIN 18202 equal to 5 mm per 2 linear metres and with a load capacity of 5 t/m2 and a point load capacity of 7.5 t.
Typical office in-halls are built in individual spaces and the tenant has a choice of three different standardised types as already mentioned.
Gas direct-heating ceiling radiant infrared heaters are used for heating the hall and showroom spaces, and direct-heating electric convectors for type 1 in-halls or hot water heating with a condensing boiler for type 2 and 3 in-halls are used for heating office spaces.
Each hall is equipped with two highly economical and efficient air handling units with recovery to meet hygienic air exchange needs with a capacity of 10,000 m3/hour.
There are 472 parking spaces and 6 parking lots with chargers for electric vehicles, including two DC fast charging stations for charging vehicles.
The entire area is monitored by 64 high-definition digital cameras and is directly connected to our supplier’s centralised security centre, including signals from the fire control panel and intrusion protection signals.
If tenants are interested, each tenant can access and view the cameras that monitor the immediate perimeter of their rental unit.
All structures and rental units are equipped with fibre optic infrastructure for high-speed Internet, and it is up to the tenant to choose which operator they choose as an internet service provider
Could you give us more information about green roofs?
The green roofs after the completion of the project will have an approximate area of two football pitches and these are designed to capture about 25 litres of water per 1 m2 After completion of the first stage, we have a total of about 6,000 m2 of green roof on buildings A, B and E, so at this moment we can capture approximately 150,000 litres of rainwater. In the second stage, more than 7,000 m2 of green roofs will be added, i.e. another 175,000 litres of retained rainwater.
In addition to primary water retention measures, our goal was and still is to improve the thermal insulation of the roof, thus ensuring cooling in a natural way during hot summer days in the form of water evaporation, or to improve the thermal insulation properties of the entire roof structure during dry and cold periods.
In addition to the greenery on the roofs, site landscaping has been a point of emphasis and 194 deciduous trees, 153 deciduous shrubs and 10,650 m2 of lawn will be planted within the framework of the entire Squarebizz Bory project. Roughly a third has already been planted as part of the first phase of the project, the remaining trees and shrubs will be planted in the growing season as part of the second phase, expected in autumn 2022.
The entire Squarebizz Bory project is very sensitively embedded in the environment, we tried to make it fit into the business concept of the Bratislava Bory location, as well as the surrounding environment.
The Dúbravčický stream flows on one side of the site, while the opposite side has a wider wild strip of trees, grasses and shrubs, which separates us from the surrounding fields. From the west side we have METRO and from the front side the main access road leading to Devínska Nová Ves and the VW plant.
By the way, we plan to leave the strip of older wild plants, trees and shrubs untouched as it is – as an area for biodiversity, which is so rare in cities today.
What are the upcoming plans within the Squarebizz concept in Slovakia?
For our next new Squarebizz project, which we are currently designing in Nitra with the planned start of construction at the beginning of next year, we are already thinking about using wooden beams (all trusses in the halls), as one of the next steps in our ecological mindset and as a trend which we want to follow.
The decision has already been made that for the Squarebizz Nitra project we will not use fossil fuels (gas) for heating, but we decided to go with heat pumps, fan coils, air recovery and photovoltaic panels as an additional source of energy for the needs of the buildings. We will try our best to continue setting up the entire project based on Squarebizz Bory, which includes Squarebizz Nitra, and future projects that we already have in mind today.
In the end, we were only interested in one thing, why did Mário Klas choose this particular path? The answer was clear: “Because it makes sense to me, because I believe in a sustainable combination of good and fair business in connection with a quality environment and with an orientation towards projects that are eco-friendly, and I definitely want to follow this path in the future.”