New 26-28 storey office tower in Vilnius!

[John]

It was already posted in Vilnius project thread but this one deserves a separate theme.
It's unbelievable but we didn't know almost anything about it before the construction started, there were only a few renderings published but without any info.

The tower is being built next to Coca-Cola Plaza cinema in Naujamiestis district.

building info
name: Helios Center
floors OG: 25
Height: 96m
construction dates
-start: June 2004
-end: December 2005
total floor area: 20,000 m2

http://www.omni.lt/includes/img/330_224561_komentarai_virsus_titulinis_kultura_architektura_vidinis.jpg

http://www.inre.lt/g_img/past1.jpg

http://www.inre.lt/g_img/past2.jpg


and fresh pictures from the construction site

http://img44.photobucket.com/albums/v136/johngang/Projects/helios/IMG_5740.jpg

http://img44.photobucket.com/albums/v136/johngang/Projects/helios/IMG_5741.jpg

http://img44.photobucket.com/albums/v136/johngang/Projects/helios/IMG_5738.jpg

[blimey]

The tower is great but i dont like its location.
Wouldve been much better if they built it in NCC.

[singing tram]

Yup... it will stand so alone there...

[Dr.Jackal]

But design is really perfect. It will be a most beautyful high-riser in Vilnius:)

[John]

Ive made a "rendering" of how it's gonna look from the top of ET, it'll be about 2km from NCC, and only 500m from Crowne Plaza hotel (seen on the right), so perhaps looking from some angles they could even form a small cluster :)

http://img44.photobucket.com/albums/v136/johngang/Projects/helios/IMG_5438.jpg

[Edd]

Great! I hope it'll look in reality quite the same as in renderings.

[Edd]

@John: nice rendering, but I think that you made it too tall ;).

[John]

@Edd
I'm not a professional graphics specialist so few meters doesn't matter ;)
I only wanted to give the idea about its location

[Kaneda]

Cool design. Nice to see some taller buildings U/C in Vilnius, lately we've "only" seen some smaller ones.

[Þróndeimr]

Great tower, it looks amazing. But i shall agree it don't fit into the area, perhaps if they built some more high-rise buildings around the tower, it could become nicer.

[ToniJH]

Maby they will construct more highrise to same area on future.
That place could be a nice for business district.

[Mantas]

The tower is just great, good news for Vilnius :okay:

[Renx]

That's a very beautiful tower:okay: (btw, good rendering, John:)) but I think the location is a bit questionable though....:tongue3:

[DnH]

looks cool

if it was built in sweden they would've need like 3 years to plan it and 10 years to build it.. hehe

[Monkey]

Congratulations, Vilnius! :okay: Looks like you guys are getting another great looking tower! :banana:

[AtlanticaC5]

Wow, that's a cool one! Any idea how tall it will be?

[Oberleutnant]

The design of the tower is drop dead gorgeous. Do you know who is the architect? I have to admit that the location seems a bit unusual, judging from Jonas' pic.

[Mantas]

The design of the tower is drop dead gorgeous. Do you know who is the architect? I have to admit that the location seems a bit unusual, judging from Jonas' pic.
The architect is Leonidas Merkinas, seems like a lithuanian from russian origin ;)

@Atlantica Do you think of drawing of this building :)? It should be some 100 m to the roof :yes:

[sdes]

Wow, that looks amazing. The location isn't so great, but still very nice addition to the skyline of Vilnius. :)

[Mantas]

Oh, it's seems like it will be mulit-purpose building. They say that apartments are for sell and office space is for rent :)

[John]

I think it should be about 90m if the floor-to-floor height will be as for typical office buildings i.e. 3.5m-3.6m.

Now everything is up to the facade materials they will use (we already have a case as a great design is ruined by wrong colors and materials - Vyroko residential), in the rendering it looks like they would use a double facade thing what would be just awesome so making it definitely the best looking highrise in Vilnius.

[Oberleutnant]

Mix-use building? That's always nice thing.

Has Mr. Merkinas designed any other interesting buildings?

It's sad how use of wrong facade materials can ruin otherwise promising looking building like Vyrokas (and, to some extent, TT).

[Mantas]

Mix-use building? That's always nice thing.

Has Mr. Merkinas designed any other interesting buildings?

It's sad how use of wrong facade materials can ruin otherwise promising looking building like Vyrokas (and, to some extent, TT).
Not really sure, maybe it's his debute :D

[John]

It's a company "Architekturos palete"

few more designs by them (I believe some of them are just architectural ideas, not actual projects)

house in Jurmala, Latvia
http://www.inre.lt/g_img/jurma1.jpg

shopping center in Riga, Latvia
http://www.inre.lt/g_img/brivibas3d1.jpg

residential in Vilnius
http://www.inre.lt/g_img/daugbt2.jpg

office building in Astana, Kazakhstan
http://www.inre.lt/g_img/astana-f1.jpg

fitness club in Alma-Ata, Kazakhstan
http://www.inre.lt/g_img/kazachstan1.jpg

pics from www.inre.lt

[Mantas]

Not bad, at all :)

[Monkey]

Good for you, coming up with more designs by this firm that's going to build the new tall one in Vilnius, John! :okay: So they're not a bunch of debutantes after all. ;)

Going back to the original project, though: I now remember seeing it earlier, maybe even months ago. Even then doubts were expressed about its location, and indeed that tree-lined V of 2 fairly narrow merging streets in the middle of town (rather than as part of the NCC) could cause problems. :( But let's think positive! It might be the pioneer building for a new cluster! :)

[John]

@WH

that's the right attitude, I see nothing wrong with its location. Of course I'd like to see more new projects in NCC but this doesn't mean highrises elswhere should not be built. Plus the area really needs something new. Just a few years ago it was a really shabby and unpleasant place (actually even now it's nothing close to being prosperous and cosy), but a number of new developments started in recent years (including the big multiplex cinema side wall of which you may see in my construction photos, a hypermarket and some smaller enterprises nearby), so this tower will definitely inspire more dvelopments making a central point of the revitalizing area.

[Gatis]

Very fine project! Congrats to Vilnius - now you are even harder to catch... Unfortunately none of the designs of this company are implemented in Latvia currently (there were shown two - in Jurmala and an supermarket) - both look quite good...

[blimey]

@John: Vilnius is too small of a city to have many clusters. I thought having two of them [NCC and BT] was already too many but creating a new one? Sounds a bit naive considering the low demand of office space. Unless, of course, you want them to build residential skyscrapers around this one, which would suck.

[John]

@blimey
sounds naive or not but the tower is U/C and I'm happy about it :)
as for NCC it's another story, we shouldn't be so naive and expect everything to be done in a couple of years, the area for NCC development is still huge and sooner or later it will have to be redeveloped, that's only a matter of time as it will be newly built up. So nothing to worry about.

[jozik_as]

the building is really looking nice :) and about location of it i think it will just adorn city view :) i really happy about this new U/C

[Petr]

This tower looks good, but its location is senseless.:no:
You have the same problem in Vilnius as we in Warsaw.

[Gatis]

The location would be bad if the building would be boring, like brick. Now it would be interesting accent in the area. But may be it really would be better in NCC.
Anyway - looks great!

[DenverDane]

That was a nice surprise for Vilnius! I like the new tower! It really seems like the city is booming at the moment! Congratulations!

[Oberleutnant]

Since the demand for office space is already low, how will it affect those plans to build more high-rises near NCC? It always seemed to as a bit far-fetched, to be honest.

[Mantas]

Since the demand for office space is already low, how will it affect those plans to build more high-rises near NCC? It always seemed to as a bit far-fetched, to be honest.
Office demand is a dynamic value and those plans are for 10-15 years ;)

[Oberleutnant]

It is, but despite that I think it's way too far-fetched and optimistic. With that skyline Vilnius would look similar to Frankfurt (which is one of the financial capitals of Europe, the financial capital of Europe's largest country and a city with a metro population of over four million people - more than the entire population of Lithuania). I wouldn't be surprised if it wouldn't be realized in its current form. Then again, predicting the future on a long term is freaky business.

[Mantas]

It is, but despite that I think it's way too far-fetched and optimistic, but predicting the future on a long term is freaky business.
I don't agree with you here, because long-term plans are really useful. Maybe all those high-rises won't be built, but hey, now they have a place where to be built ;)

[Oberleutnant]

Where are you going to find the users for all that office space? Those buildings contain millions of square meters of space! :)

[blimey]

@mantaz: Yet nobody is building anything in there anyway.
First SBA, Victoria Tower, now this.
How many towers do you think a small city like Vilnius can handle? Or do you suggest that all people should move to skyscrapers? Because otherwise i cant see how Vilnius can come even close to those "plans".

[Oberleutnant]

Is there any vacant space left in NCC, by the way?

[Mantas]

Where are you going to find the users for all that office space? Those buildings contain millions of square meters of space! :)
Damn, this is a bussiness world. The buildings aren't being just to be built. Market research is made before, so if there will be no demand, no buildings will be built ;)

Btw, now Vilnius has some 300,000 m2 of space office. I wonder how much Helsinki has, huh? :) If it's way more then I believe we will need more space in the future and those plans aren't just useless

@Blimey. Where is not building :? What are you talking here about? :| Such town like Vilnius can handle more, that's for sure, because now our economy is still developing that means that there will be more skyscrapers. I cna't tell you an exact number though :|

[Mantas]

Is there any vacant space left in NCC, by the way?
Lots of space if counting all the huts that will be demolished one day ;)

[sdes]

Btw, now Vilnius has some 300,000 m2 of space office. I wonder how much Helsinki has, huh? :) If it's way more then I believe we will need more space in the future and those plans aren't just useless

Helsinki has 5 500 000 m2 of office space, Espoo 1 400 000 and Vantaa 750 000 (according to this article: Tekniikka & Talous (http://www.tekniikkatalous.fi/doc.ot?f_id=566803))

[John]

@OL

it's quite simple. The current amount of A class office space in Vilnius is still very low, all modern offices were built during the last few years and even if it might seem alot, it's still only a drop in a sea. I believe Helsinki (a city of quite similar size) has like 10-15 times more of office space than Vilnius, so you could count how many Europa Squares it's possible to build in the next 10-15 years :)
as for the demand, Mantaz is right here. It also will depend on the economy growth. If we take into account that Lithuanian economy is growing at 7% on average each year (Vilnius is growing faster than the rest of Lithuania, perhaps around 10% anually or even more) so the increasing demand of office space in the next years is a natural thing.

[Mantas]

Helsinki has 5 500 000 m2 of office space (according to this article: Tekniikka & Talous (http://www.tekniikkatalous.fi/doc.ot?f_id=566803)
Wow, even more than expected :eek: So this proves my point when the growing economy will attract more investment for the space office :)

[ch1le]

uuu that makes me wonder how much Tallinn has!

[Oberleutnant]

Damn, this is a bussiness world. The buildings aren't being just to be built. Market research is made before, so if there will be no demand, no buildings will be built ;)

That's what I've been saying. :)


Btw, now Vilnius has some 300,000 m2 of space office. I wonder how much Helsinki has, huh? :) If it's way more then I believe we will need more space in the future and those plans aren't just useless

300,000 m2? You certain of that number?

Helsinki region contains 7.4 million square meters of office space (in the same level with Madrid), though vacancy rates have risen, because many of the projects started few years ago are finished but the market interest is low.

It also remains to be seen whether there'll be great increase of demand anymore. Probably not.

Look, I'm not saying that those high-rises won't be built. It just remains to be seen. Maybe if Lithuanian economy can continue its stellar growth. :) Now, is there any vacant space still in Europa Tower? Just curious.

[Mantas]

That's what I've been saying. :)




300,000 m2? You certain of that number?
Sure, maybe even less ;)


Helsinki region contains 7.4 million square meters of office space (in the same level with Madrid), though vacancy rates have risen, because many of the projects started few years ago are finished but the market interest is low.

It also remains to be seen whether there'll be great increase of demand anymore. Probably not.


so 5 500 000 or 7 400 000 :?


Look, I'm not saying that those high-rises won't be built. It just remains to be seen. Now, is there any vacant space still in Europa Tower? Just curious.
There was some 50% when ET was finished.

The market fullness isn't too bad thing anyway, the lower rent price will make some space in market :D

[John]

@OL

the number of 300K m2 is correct (+- few K of m2), I think even Tallinn's modern office space is higher than Vilnius.

As for Helsinki, if they'd build skyscrapers instead of groundlickers, Helsinki could beat such beasts as Frankfurt ;)

and a small fact about NCC. There is only 33,000 of office space in the whole NCC in Vilnius. That equals to Itamerentori :|

[ch1le]

tallinn's office space is alot bigger... think... - in total plans by 2010 tallinn will build 1.5 MIO m2 of office space... + the existing one and u get?

[Mantas]

tallinn's office space is alot bigger... think... - in total plans by 2010 tallinn will build 1.5 MIO m2 of office space... + the existing one and u get?
Maybe you can find an accurate number for current space?

[ch1le]

im searching...

[sdes]

@OL
and a small fact about NCC. There is only 33,000 of office space in the whole NCC in Vilnius. That equals to Itamerentori :|

That's not much, is Europa tower that thin? Atleast it's almost twice as tall as Itämerentori is :)

so 5 500 000 or 7 400 000
5 500 000 in Helsinki and 7 400 000 in metro area. Well, actually Helsinki metro area = Helsinki :)

[ch1le]

/\ he sayd the WHOLE ncc...

[sdes]

Ok, I forgot the Municipality Building.

[Mantas]

I've found some data. It's 107,000 + 35,000 m2 of the MODERN space office coming in next 2 years. Vilnius by the same source has 84,000 m2 of the modern space office + Victoria, SBA and some other projects in the nearest future :| Riga will have some 33,000 with SA finished by this year

http://www.ober-haus.ee/pages.php/030202

[Oberleutnant]

@OL

the number of 300K m2 is correct (+- few K of m2), I think even Tallinn's modern office space is higher than Vilnius.

Okay, I believe this. :D

My primary concern is the following: can Lithuania continue its economic growth and keep attracting more and more business, which looks for high-class offices? These are the two preconditions that need to be met. Remember that not all office buildings aren't going to be high-rises, even if there's going to huge demand for them.


As for Helsinki, if they'd build skyscrapers instead of groundlickers, Helsinki could beat such beasts as Frankfurt ;)

Indeed! Alas, it is not like this. Fortunately, there's soon no room left in Helsinki to build anything, so they might have to switch to taler buildings.


and a small fact about NCC. There is only 33,000 of office space in the whole NCC in Vilnius. That equals to Itamerentori :|

That's pretty wild, to say the least. Just how narrow ET really is? (EDIT: like sdes, I also forgot the municipality building. Then again, this only makes it even more incredible)



PS:

I wanted to stir up some discussion, something which S&B really needs a bit more, IMHO. Too often many threads simply become "great this" "yes" and "no" kind of discusssion. :)



5 500 000 in Helsinki and 7 400 000 in metro area. Well, actually Helsinki metro area = Helsinki :)

Yep, those two are pretty much the same thing.

[Mantas]

Okay, I believe this. :D

My primary concern is the following: can Lithuania continue its economic growth and keep attracting more and more business, which looks for high-class offices? These are the two preconditions that need to be met. Remember that not all office buildings aren't going to be high-rises, even if there's going to huge demand for them.


The answer is: Yes, Lithuania can continue its economic growth and keep attracting more and more business, which looks for high-class offices :D

[sdes]

PS:
I wanted to stir up some discussion, something which S&B really needs a bit more, IMHO. Too often many threads simply become "great this" "yes" and "no" kind of discusssion. :)
I agree with you. We need more discussions like this.

[ch1le]

forget it - see next posts

[Mantas]

ok good... well can you tell me whats the price (by month for rent) in vilnius city centre for office space eur/m2?
in tallinn it is 6,4- 18 EUR so the lowest price (quite old info lol 2001(!)) in city centre is 6.4 euro/m2 per month, and highes 18 eur/m2 pmonth...

dont mix office space with retail space
Not sure, but in ET and other modern A class offices it is around 20 Eur/m2

[ch1le]

I've found some data. It's 107,000 + 35,000 m2 of the MODERN space office coming in next 2 years. Vilnius by the same source has 84,000 m2 of the modern space office + Victoria, SBA and some other projects in the nearest future :| Riga will have some 33,000 with SA finished by this year

http://www.ober-haus.ee/pages.php/030202

aaahh great... http://www.ober-haus.ee/file.php?id=79 ty mantaz

but i doubt helsinki has so much CLASS A! - were talking about class A here right?

[John]

A Class offices in Vilnius are 11,6 - 19 Eur depending on location in the city and height. ET offices seem to be the most expensive.

[Mantas]

Ok, current office space (all classes)
Tallinn 209,600
Riga 57,760
Vilnius 132,705

[ch1le]

/\ correct...

[Oberleutnant]

aaahh great... http://www.ober-haus.ee/file.php?id=79 ty mantaz

but i doubt helsinki has so much CLASS A! - were talking about class A here right?

No, our sources included all office space in Helsinki / Hki region.

My source for 7.4 million figure
http://www.ivg.de/en/999_364526.htm

[John]

Ok, current office space (all classes)
Tallinn 209,600
Riga 57,760
Vilnius 132,705

that's just not credible, Oberhaus may go to hell :rant:

[Mantas]

Ok, current office space (all classes)
Tallinn 209,600
Riga 57,760
Vilnius 132,705
And Warsaw is only 554,000. That's pretty strange for me :|

[Mantas]

that's just not credible, Oberhaus may go to hell :rant:
Yeah, I think I heard somewhere that Vilnius has 190,000. Now it's less, so maybe they don't count all the offices :|

[ch1le]

hmm.. some guys have predicted that many companies in Helsinki will move theyr offices and so on to Tallinn in coming years(lower tax) - kmpuhm... better prepare! :P

[John]

And Warsaw is only 554,000. That's pretty strange for me :|

this is indeed very strange, I actually don't believe Riga has only 57K m2 of office space :|

[ch1le]

mby its only city centre?

[John]

mby its only city centre?

nope, it's only "I list what I wish to" by Oberhaus :)

[Mantas]

nope, it's only "I list what I wish to" by Oberhaus :)
Maybe more "I list only those, who are my customers" ;)

[ch1le]

no way cant be - check out the retail spaces... riga somehow kicks but there they have 260 000 m2, planned there! yet in tallinn its - 52k Vilnius - 96k
and the existing ones 300k in riga, 300k in tallinn and 315 in Vilnius

seems fair though taken to account population

[Mantas]

no way cant be - check out the retail spaces... riga somehow kicks but there they have 260 000 m2, planned there! yet in tallinn its - 52k Vilnius - 96k
and the existing ones 300k in riga, 300k in tallinn and 315 in Vilnius

seems fair though taken to account population
Where did you find the data? And how old it is?

[ch1le]

obbie :P and its 2003/2004

[Mantas]

Well, Vilnius has finished many buildings this year. Like entire NCC of 33,000 and some others, so I wonder if we can add those figures or they are already added :)

[ch1le]

they are added...in the obbie report

from what i can tell, the smallest vacancy is in tallinn with only 5% yeah ... come on baby!

[Mantas]

they are added...in the obbie report

from what i can tell, the smallest vacancy is in tallinn with only 5% yeah ... come on baby!
Hm, don't find this data. Can you give us the link? :)

[ch1le]

i thought u gave me the link!
http://www.ober-haus.ee/pages.php/030202 just look at the graphs :P :) scroll through tallinn, vilnius, riga etc, also see below retail, accomodation etc

[Mantas]

i thought u gave me the link!
http://www.ober-haus.ee/pages.php/030202 just look at the graphs :P :) scroll through tallinn, vilnius, riga etc, also see below retail, accomodation etc
They still give some 100,000 for Tallinn, 90,000 for Vilnius etc. Maybe you mixed between retail and office space ;)?

[grendy]

Cool.. Tampere has got 850 000 m2 office space :)

[NorthStar77]

Wow, imagine if all the officespace in Oslo was in highrises! The new Telenor headquarter alone is on 170.000+sqm iirc!! :D

I agree with you Ober, I would be happy to see more discussions here. This will hopefully happen with our new skybar :banana:

[John]

@OL and NorthStar

we should do more fighting, let's say Oslo vs. Helsinki or Vilnius vs. Tallinn :D

[Monkey]

I may be trying to kill S&B and Skyscrapercity here ... but pardon me, guys: why FIGHT? :bash:



:angel1:

[John]

ok, maybe not fighting but let's say "discussing Vilnius and Tallinn issues" :D
:angel:

[Monkey]

OK, so you're discussing ... Now that's MUCH better! :okay:

So I can finally go to sleep on that one! Finish my :cheers2: and go :goodnight:

:angel1:

[NorthStar77]

Indeed, discussing is the keyword here. I think us S&B forumers are too inteligent to start stupid fights :cheers2:

[jozik_as]

does any body know how much office space has new york city
?

[PornStar]

does any body know how much office space has new york city
?
I'm not sure of NYC, but I know that here in Paris so far we've got more than 47,000,000 sqm of office space - Europe's largest office market :cheers: .
(MIPIM (http://www.mipim.com/App/homepage.cfm?moduleid=308&appname=100236&K_MAG_ID=2137&K_MT_ID=266&step=FullStory))

BTW, nice new tower in Vilnius! :cheers:

[ch1le]

we are arguing over a couple thousand Square meters of office space... while for some citys thats just a drop in the ocean... scary

[John]

There are some news about the "Helios Center"

There was an informative article in a popular Lithuanian architecture newspaper "Statybu pilotas" (Construction pilot). The article praises the tower for its excellent location and impact to the skyline and the area where it's being built, it notices that in this location the height of new buildings could be even unlimited. It also notices that many other highrises in Vilnius are not as good located as this one.

Now we also know the official height data (96m) and # of floors (25). Although I have a feeling these might be not the final numbers yet ;)

And a couple of renderings
http://img93.exs.cx/img93/3727/Image47.jpg

http://img93.exs.cx/img93/4816/Image46.jpg

[Mantas]

It's already written "Media" [retail chain] in the rendering :| Just a note ;)

[blimey]

The design looks great. Definately one of the best towers in the region.
Great news.

[ch1le]

Looks great, yeah the first thing i noticed there too was Media :)

[sdes]

Great design. Looks tall too. :)

[John]

"Media" is a brand of VP Market. In Lithunaia they use names "Minima", "Media" and "Maxima" depending on supermarket size, for some reason in Latvia they use only "Maxima". :?

[PornStar]

http://img93.exs.cx/img93/3727/Image47.jpg
wow, this tower boasts some amazing high-tech designs!!! I really like it, plus the colour and some round shapes are very nice as well! Way to go, Vilnius!

[LatvianGG]

"Media" is a brand of VP Market. In Lithunaia they use names "Minima", "Media" and "Maxima" depending on supermarket size, for some reason in Latvia they use only "Maxima". :?

Cuz when we shop, we shop good if u know what I mean..:D Sometimes when I see what they are moving out of the store and getting in the car, I forget that I'm in Latvia...

[Jeffas]

Is it only to me that it reminds a diminished version of the Warsaw's Rondo Tower? :)

Very nice, though I'd like to see it standing in the NCC cluster.. Soon we will run short of the demand for the office space, and the huts of Snipiskes may well survive into the future (or we will start getting many faceless groundslickers). Let's hope it doesn't happen :cheers:

[Geex]

Is it only to me that it reminds a diminished version of the Warsaw's Rondo Tower? :)

Very nice, though I'd like to see it standing in the NCC cluster.. Soon we will run short of the demand for the office space, and the huts of Snipiskes may well survive into the future (or we will start getting many faceless groundslickers). Let's hope it doesn't happen :cheers:

I dont think Snipiskes will survive, this district is just too close to city centre, from one side snipiskes will be builded up with residental homes, from other with high-rise com. buildings, it will be done sooner or later.. ;)

BTW i don't think we will have enough office space here in Vilnius soon. :cheers:

[Edd]

@Jeffas: Yes, as I already said in Lithuanian forum from one side it reminds me of Rondo1 a bit too.
About Snipiskes: have you heard the news that ET will stay as the highest building in Snipiskes and the number of high-rises there will not be big? Also Snipiskes would not be dense as it was planned before. (here is a link to a thread with more information: http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showthread.php?t=138972 )

So anyway Snipiskes will have many (faceless?) "groundslickers" and a few (faceless?) high-rises. And Vilnius won't have the best skyline in the Baltics, I think that it'll be Riga or Tallinn who will have the best skyline in the Baltics. But still I expect from Snipiskes very much - a nice modern "european" district :).

[Jeffas]

@Edd: yes, I've heard the rumours (facts?) about Snipiskes, though I think/hope the height limits are not fixed, at least not forever. The municipality people would not be showing that mini-model of Vilnius on every possible occassion with all these tall buildings to the left of ET, if there were no prospect of "reaching for the sky" (my guess or maybe just a wishful thinking)

As for "faceless", I do not want to sound too categoric, but most of the modern low-risers in Vilnius fall into this category. There are nice exceptions though! :) Whatever they build, I hope the NCC should be a sign of quality (no matter if it is high- or low-riser). But things like Vyrokas' "green creature of the damps" may destroy all the buena vista.

[Edd]

LOL, I have just found a flag of the district which is going to be the most modern part of Vilnius and the new city center of Vilnius - Snipiskes:
http://www.em-fanartikel.de/fotw/images/l/lt-vi-sn.gif

Coat of arms:
http://www.em-fanartikel.de/fotw/images/l/lt)vi-sn.gif

They really fit to our "new city center" :laugh:.

[Jeffas]

LOL, Eddai! :D :D :D

I'd guess, the jar contains a 10-grade beer from the local barelis "Gramelis" and the star represents the "bang-effect" you receive into the face-area once you run into some "friendly" bomzy of the local community who give you a lovely "hug" :D And I like the colours - looks like a combination of Vatican and Belarus! :D (I guess, the inhabitants of the Sznipiszki are the last sad descendants of the Lithuanian Grand Duchy - something between the Lithuanians, Poles, Byelorussians, Ukrainians and ???, so the flag is not too far from the truth)

[John]

Photo update of the tower construction, all photos are taken today :)

http://img98.exs.cx/img98/1042/IMG_7080.jpg

http://img98.exs.cx/img98/8346/IMG_7081.jpg

http://img98.exs.cx/img98/9904/IMG_7084.jpg

http://img98.exs.cx/img98/8012/IMG_7085.jpg

http://img98.exs.cx/img98/882/IMG_7089.jpg

[Kaneda]

Looking good, we'll soon begin to see some height. :)

[Jacek]

Could it be a rip off ? It looks like an old PZU building concept in Warsaw.

POLAND (old concept PZU)
http://www.sky.s64.pl/home/Plany/pzu8.jpg

LITHUANIA (U/C Helios)
http://img93.exs.cx/img93/4816/Image46.jpg




It reminds me of another situation with Rotunda building concept in Warsaw.

POLAND (Rotunda PKO - concept)
http://www.sky.s64.pl/home/Plany/w11.jpg


LITHUANIA (Europa Tower - Built)
http://img44.photobucket.com/albums/v136/johngang/Vilnius/STE_4041.jpg



This is not a conspiracy theory but something is fishy here. Could it be that someone is trying to resurrect dead Warsaw projects and build them elsewhere ???

[Edd]

Helios tower is a rip off two polish towers:
From one side it's a ripoff of old PZU building and from another side it is a ripoff of Rondo1. Another side of Helios tower:
http://img93.exs.cx/img93/3727/Image47.jpg

[Edd]

Some more ripoffs?:
http://www.startbilder.de/einzelbild.php?id=275319&quality=100&identifier=d7701f366b&

Blue tower on the left looks like a ripoff of some of those many similar towers in Turkey. And two towers in the right corner seems like a ripoffs of each other and of many other ones from all around the world. I'm not 100% sure but there sure is something fishy about it. :D

[John]

Some more ripoffs?:
http://www.startbilder.de/einzelbild.php?id=275319&quality=100&identifier=d7701f366b&

And two towers in the right corner seems like a ripoffs of each other and of many other ones from all around the world. I'm not 100% sure but there sure is something fishy about it. :D

I think both are designed by the same architect so they look similar, although they both resemble the former NYC WTC twin towers ;)

[ch1le]

i think jacek has a Serious point there... they look very similar.

[Edd]

Helios tower looks like a different building from different sides. And talking about similar buildings:
http://img118.exs.cx/img118/1661/twins1.jpg

Btw is BCC2 U/C?

[John]

Btw is BCC2 U/C?

Not yet, I passed the site yesterday. They're only building the new parking.

[blimey]

@Jacek: that crappy Rotunda building looks nothing like Europa.
Although you've got a point about that first building, they do have similarities, but the fact that the projects are similar doesnt mean that somebody had to necesserily copy someone. Especially considering that that project in Warsaw is dead.

[Mantas]

Some update for today
http://img.miestai.net/IMGP0055.JPG

http://img.miestai.net/IMGP0056.JPG

http://img.miestai.net/IMGP0058.JPG

http://img.miestai.net/IMGP0059.JPG

[Gatis]

Thanks! (Hate this grey weather) He-heee, Lada!!!

[Mantas]

Thanks! (Hate this grey weather) He-heee, Lada!!!
Gati, what Lada are you talking about ;) :D

http://img.miestai.net/IMGP0059a.JPG

[Paolo]

nice looking tower though its really bad that its so far away from other highrises in Vilnius...

[sdes]

It's always nice to follow construction of the tower. Thanks for those pics. :)

"Gati, what Lada are you talking about"
:D

[Gatis]

Ops. But there was Lada, I saw it!!!!

[blimey]

Thanks for the update, mantaz.

[Mantas]

Today's

http://img.miestai.net/IMGP0112.JPG

[ch1le]

god you guys build fast!!!!!!!!

[ch1le]

Indeed, discussing is the keyword here. I think us S&B forumers are too inteligent to start stupid fights :cheers2:


sorry, i just had to bring this up :eek2: :runaway:

[goschio]

Nice to see this beautiful tower going up! :cheers:

[Mantas]

3 weeks later and it's already @ 9 :)

http://img.miestai.net/2005/IMGP1070.JPG

http://img.miestai.net/2005/IMGP1074.JPG

http://img.miestai.net/2005/IMGP1075.JPG

http://img.miestai.net/2005/IMGP1076.JPG

http://img.miestai.net/2005/IMGP1078.JPG

http://img.miestai.net/2005/IMGP1080.JPG

The lower part is also seen
http://img.miestai.net/2005/IMGP1082.JPG

http://img.miestai.net/2005/IMGP1084.JPG

[Gatis]

Great great great. They are fast (where did you get good weather?)

[ch1le]

your pretty fast.. whats the ground in vilnius? i mean soil, hard, as in how longdoes it take to drive piles and prepare foundation?

[vytux]

Coming along nicely. Its going to look supurb when its finished.

[Mantas]

Today's pics. Helios @ 11 :nocrook:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v734/Mantasss/IMGP1749.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v734/Mantasss/IMGP1752.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v734/Mantasss/IMGP1754.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v734/Mantasss/IMGP1758.jpg

Some experiment glasses are already put on
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v734/Mantasss/IMGP1759.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v734/Mantasss/IMGP1762.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v734/Mantasss/IMGP1764.jpg

[chukchi]

That's a nice tower but it's way to big for that area. And I will be able to see it through my windows :D

[Monkey]

Thanks for the great construction pictures, Mantai! :applause:

[sdes]

Thanks for the pics Mantaz.
You guys are building quite fast, nice to see some cladding too :)

[John]

That's a nice tower but it's way to big for that area. And I will be able to see it through my windows :D

Nah, it's not too big, just other buildings around are too small. :)
Take a look at Snipiskes. Currently it's dominated by old 1 storey high wooden huts. Are ET, EA and other new highrises also too big? ;)
In other words - the bigger, the better! :D

Vilnius needs densier urbanisation and taller buildings. I'm pretty sure this area around Helios could be dominated by more highrises, there is space and there are no strict height limitations.

[sander]

I like that project. Design is good, but i`m not sure if I like colours of this tower.
I didn`t know that HT is already so high! I tought that they are still building basement.:D

[Mantas]

I like that project. Design is good, but i`m not sure if I like colours of this tower.
I didn`t know that HT is already so high! I tought that they are still building basement.:D
Yeah, much to be learned for estonians :D

And btw, the final colour is still unknown, but they are already working on it :)

[Mantas]

Here's the newest render of Helios
http://img.miestai.net/2005/Helios.jpg

And the newest update (@ 14 fl now)
http://img.miestai.net/2005/IMGP2396.JPG

[ch1le]

oh god that render is top of the notch, seems like they changed it quite a bit, i love it :) :okay:

[John]

OMG, the render is amazing! :bow:
Thanks for update, Mantai.
Any more renderings (where you got this one from, btw?).

[Mantas]

^^^ http://www.inreal.lt/lt.php/paslaugos/pardavimas/nauji_butai/helios/17950 :)

[Jarmo K]

ilikeitilikeitilikeit! (:

[Mantas]

^^^ Is this some weird dialect of Estonian? ;)

[Jarmo K]

äää oi ärge pange üldse tähele palun ma'i teind seda meelega ega ka mitte hea meelega! ):


nevermind!

[Jarmo K]

yea (:

it means: "i think this building will look rather okay" :D

[Mantas]

It hink it's more like "willlookokwilllookokwilllookok" :)

[Edd]

Atlast we got some new rendering - it was obviously seen that they are building a bit different building than in those renderings which we had previously. I must say that it looks very nice. :okay:

[liutass]

http://img.miestai.net/2005/Helios.jpg

For me this looks even better than Europe Tower :uh:

[Gladiator]

If it will look like that it will be the best skyscraper in Vilnius, but sadly it's just a rendering. It doesn't mean that actual building will look like that. Just look at the cheap glass in previous photos.

[jimm]

Very nice building, probably will be the best in Vilnius. I hope it will be the same as in the renderings.

[tournesol]

Wow! The new design looks great! :okay: And it's really rising FAST! :D

[John]

Few more renderings

http://img62.exs.cx/img62/9592/isarti2copy17ik.jpg


http://img213.exs.cx/img213/1555/savsav15ti.jpg

http://img213.exs.cx/img213/796/savpask37wp.jpg

[Mantas]

Yep, if those renders don't lie, it'll be the best scraper in Vilnius so far :okay:

[mlm]

Those are some very cool renderings indeed:yes:

[grendy]

Looking just beautiful! Gimme that building! :)

[Artis]

Beautiful - it's just a question of taste. In my opinion it looks pretty old-fashioned. To my mind Europa Tower and Europa Apartments look much more contemporary, elegant and beutiful.

[sdes]

Definitely the best looking scraper in Vilnius IMO. :yes:

[John]

I think we should wait until it gets completed before calling it the nicest or the best. It looks really sweet in the renderings though.

[Mantas]

It seems that this thread was completely forgotten.. oh well :D It's not 100% clear yet, but it seems that Helios has got an approval to be built taller than the original project (23 + 2 semifloors). Now they are building 24th and it seems it is a regular full-size floor ;) And It's already 2nd time about that Helios mught get a tall neighbour in the future :)

2005 08 12

http://img244.imageshack.us/img244/6006/imgp55293zd.jpg

Isn't it a crane extension? :D
http://img244.imageshack.us/img244/1736/imgp55341wb.jpg

From a hypermarket nearby
http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/6263/imgp55400af.jpg

http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/1722/imgp55479bk.jpg

2005 08 16

http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/8292/imgp55777jg.jpg

http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/8563/imgp55797zs.jpg

http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/2986/imgp55811kq.jpg

http://img229.imageshack.us/img229/6521/imgp55830ls.jpg

2005 08 17

http://img273.imageshack.us/img273/1069/imgp55936hf.jpg

[ch1le]

i have sayd it before, and i will say it again... Lithuania is weird...

cant imagine a highrise magically be allowed extra floors in Estonia, Latvia, Finland, Denamrk or any other SB country:D

[ShuMi]

Awesome :drool:
Like the glass :okay:

[ch1le]

oh... anyhow its a nice building... but it really SUCKS compared to the render http://img.miestai.net/2005/Helios.jpg

[Mantas]

@ch1le When was the last time you saw the building in the same way as was in the render? :D As for adding extra floors, it's probably nobody has invented this method in other countries, but hey, I don't think it's a bad method :devil:

[grendy]

I really like this building! It's tall and slim and has got glass, what else do you need? :D I wonder how the other side with no glass will look, not it looks a bit sad :D

[Whose Homepage]

Mantai, you're the all time great u/c updater! :applause:

[Mantas]

Thanks WH, I'll try not to give up doing that ;)

As for the latest news, Helios is building 26th full-floor and we still don't know what's the final height is going to be. If the next one will be half-size floor, then we might guess it being 28 fl high (~105 m). It will be the 2nd highest building in Vilnius. Here are some latest snapshots.

Yesterday pics
http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/7964/imgp62629xz.jpg

http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/8214/imgp62665zd.jpg

http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/6320/imgp62706he.jpg

http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/1754/imgp62752uo.jpg

Today pics
http://img98.imageshack.us/img98/1668/imgp62857wo.jpg

http://img121.imageshack.us/img121/2679/imgp63059xf.jpg

[John]

The new shots are great. I love the last pic. :okay:

[Singidunum]

wow that's great. Didn`t even know it was u/c Actually I thought it would be much shorter.

[John]

This project is so "typical" to Vilnius. :D
At first we didn't now anything about the project, only one day we saw construction underway. Now construction is nearing to the end and we still don't know how tall it's going to be. The original project was 25 storeys and 96m. Now we see that it will be at least 26 storeys and unknown number of meters. :|

[mic of Orion]

I like Vilnius Night Skyline it is best after Warsaw's in what was ex communist part of Europe.. Won't give opinion on this project until it is finished, I think it looks ok, I do think ppl should be more imaginative when designing towers, more eccentricity...

[John]

Also could somebody change the title of this thread? :D

[Þróndeimr]

Gorgeous shots mantaz! :okay: The tower looks much more massive, and not that beautiful in real life compared to the renderings.

[John]

Gorgeous shots mantaz! :okay: The tower looks much more massive, and not that beautiful in real life compared to the renderings.

We haven't seen how it looks in real life when completed so we can't compare it to the renderings yet. ;)

[Þróndeimr]

We haven't seen how it looks in real life when completed so we can't compare it to the renderings yet. ;)

Can't agree more! ;)

[ShuMi]

I hope that Helios will start construction works in Klaipeda when Helios tower will be finished. It may be something like the Helios project, just a bit bigger ;)