I think this project deserves a separate thread.
Pictures and info of the construction of this complex shalt be posted here :)

"Vilniaus Vartai" (Gates of Vilnius) is currently the biggest project U/C in Vilnius worth of about 50mio Eur and developed by one of the biggest construction and real estate investment companies "Ranga IV".

The project consists of:
- 20 storey office/apartment tower
- 15 storey office tower
- 9 storey apartment building with shopping on the first 2 floors and 2 storey underground parking
- 2 storey parking, nightclub and restaurant located above a tunnel

Total area of buildings is about 60,000m2. The 20 storey tower and parking/club/restaurant will be built over a tunnel by extending it by some 90 meters.


Designed by architecture company AKG (the same which designed Europa Square Apartments). Only very high quality and expensive materials will be used for the exterior decoration - polished stone (most likely granite), high quality transparent glass.

Construction periods: 2004 - beginning of 2006


Now about how it's gonna look when finished

Side of the 15 strorey office tower
http://img174.exs.cx:81/img174/8329/19aq0dv.jpg


The 15 storey office tower and residential 9 storey part of the complex
http://img174.exs.cx:81/img174/7762/28pr9dq.jpg


The residential 9 storey part
http://img174.exs.cx:81/img174/3999/34gi0jj.jpg


The 20 storey tower seen from the 15 storey office building front side
http://img174.exs.cx:81/img174/5157/49ox7gp.jpg


Both towers
http://img174.exs.cx:81/img174/3272/59oa2oi.jpg


Base of the 20 storey apartment tower, the most expensive upper flats cost as much as 1 - 1.3 mio Eur, some are already reserved so it's better not to wait ;)
http://img174.exs.cx:81/img174/7676/65do3xd.jpg

Plan
http://img82.exs.cx/img82/7069/Picture21.jpg

http://img132.exs.cx/img132/3344/42-Untitled-2.jpg

http://img132.exs.cx/img132/8994/ae-Untitled-3.jpg


and construction pictures (in most pictures you will see the 9 storey apartment and 15 storey office parts, the 20 storey apartment tower construction is starting only now)



July 2004
http://img82.exs.cx/img82/2152/vartai1.jpg


August 2004
http://img82.exs.cx/img82/2228/vartai2.jpg



October 2004
http://img91.exs.cx/img91/3913/IMG_6884.jpg


http://img36.exs.cx/img36/8265/IMG_6890.jpg



January 2005 (by Mantaz)
http://img.miestai.net/IMGP0512.JPG

http://img.miestai.net/IMGP0518.JPG

(by BoyXm)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v152/BoyXm/10a.jpg


February 2005 (by Mantaz)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v734/Mantasss/IMGP1727.jpg

50 mio EUR. wow! That dive under the earth before this place was impressive, now it would be much more impressive.

Regarding the project - so far 6/10. Design is tasty, somehow Nordic. A bit dry, heartless. May be they could do something more with that lover building - too boxy. I like the highest tower at best - with the steep upper part mirroring the street (street?) it will have metropolitan look.

You're right, John. This project deserves a separate thread.
It's a great project on a very complicated site. :)

Looking forward to see the towers rise...

Completely agree here, Gatis. The lower part looks quite faceless and boring although I'm fully satisfied with the highrise parts which will be dominating anyway, especially the taller one. One interesting detail, according to an article the design was corrected 9 or more times before it reached the final shape (and the best one according to some who are into architecture). I think it's gonna look good even being quite minimalistic, the materials should be good and make it look more solid, plus the surrounding buildings have to harmonize with it (massive parliament and the national library buildings).

Nice, but i somehow agree with Gatis. To me it looks a bit too typical, especally the shape and the front facade. But i think the project is still as interesting. :)

looks fancy! But again mighty cheap for such a project 50 mio euro.... :sly: well, not cheap, but i would have expected more...

looks fancy! But again mighty cheap for such a project 50 mio euro.... :sly: well, not cheap, but i would have expected more...
Cheap? Tornimäe, Tallinn - complex of two high-rises: one 28 floors another 30 floors. The area of complex is about 50 000 m2. The investments 32 mio EUR. If "Vilnius gates" were "mighty cheap" then how will you call Tornimäe project in Tallinn?

ch1le meant not the 50 mio EUR (this is very much for our countries) but the looks of the complex. It is minimalistic and boxy - thus it looks simple and cheap.
If this complex would be built with crappy materials, it would look just sad after 10 years. But 50 mio EUR mean for sure expensive and good materials, good authorising etc.

Boxy does not mean cheap. And buildings of round or any other forms can look cheap. Btw almost all (all?) high-rises in Tallinn are boxy even U/C ones. And Gatis - read carefully what ch1le wrote: "But again mighty cheap for such a project 50 mio euro...." - he didn't say that the complex looks cheap, he said that 50 mio is cheap for such project.

And I think it's too early to talk about the looks of complex. Lets wait when it'll be finished. ;) For me it does not look too minimalistic - most of modern buildings are much more minimalistic (e.g. in Vilnius: municipality building, Europa apartaments). Btw isn't it you Gatis, who wrote that Europa apartaments is your favourite high-rise in Vilnius? ;)

It's not trully boxy. Both highrises will "look down" a little, I mean the facade will have angle. Another fancy thing about this project is that they are extending a tunnel and building a highrise upon it :okay:

Nevertheless this complex will look awesome, especially for the place it is being built :yes:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v734/Mantasss/IMGP1990.jpg

Yes, Europa Apartments still looks as the most pleasant existing highrise in Vilnius for me.
- - -
"Vilniaus vartai" would be among good samples of minimalism. I am waiting for implementation of the project to say - would it be just good for me or very good ;)

Btw. the renderings of projects many times tend to be more "cold" than real life. I remember how I hated initial renders of Saules akmens back in 2002 - this was silent horror for me - what is happening with my belowed Riga!

So far this view is my favourite:
http://img174.exs.cx:81/img174/5157/49ox7gp.jpg

Yes, Europa Apartments still looks as the most pleasant existing highrise in Vilnius for me.
- - -
"Vilniaus vartai" would be among good samples of minimalism. I am waiting for implementation of the project to say - would it be just good for me or very good ;)
You forgot other options - bad or very bad. ;) Personally I think that these options are quite possible, although I hope everything will be ok. :)

Btw. the renderings of projects many times tend to be more "cold" than real life. I remember how I hated initial renders of Saules akmens back in 2002 - this was silent horror for me - what is happening with my belowed Riga!
I liked Saules Akmens from the begining when I saw renderings, but in reality it turned out much better. It is my favourite high-rise in the Baltic states (probably not only in the Baltic states ;)).

No no, I think that Vilniaus vartai would be quite OK, really. But there is one more thing what worries me - the lighting. I think that the highest building is just to the south from busy street. The Sun is behind it - so the mirror effect from the street would be weak - and overall effect is not that powerful. I wonder - why didn't they make render of complex from street level, as it would be seen by most people?
(JEez. I feel that I start criticising too much a project which I like)

The highest building is turned to east a little, so it'll reflect some morning sun only. Nothing to change on this though ;)

@Gatis: The facades of both high-rises will be leaning but I'm not sure if they will lean enough to reflect the street. Also I think that they might be too far from the street (that tallest high-rise will be separated from the street by ~80+ meters long three floorer which ends with convex glass). I think that they will mostly reflect the sky. :) Although that convex part just above the tunnel should look great at night when the cars with lights will go under it.
Interesting - how will they make that convex facade? There will be only three levels so it'll be hard to get a convex effect out of flat glass sheets.

seem to be very serious and large complex. Tunnel of 90m length - impressive. I'm not so good in geography in Vilnius - could you mark that tunnel on the map?

Why the name "Vilniaus Vartai"? to me it seem very central place of Vilnius not border of the city.
I believe in architecture of R.Bimba (AKG) and constructions of Ranga IV. I really like Europa apartments building - it's one of my favorite highscrapers - a bit dutch mood.
I like that two storey base with that corner that Gatis choose. I red about the building in Latvijas Arhitektura magazine there was sad that office building is 17 storey high not 15 as here. So i could understand that strange glass screen on the top of building. Thats the thing i doo not like.

The thing that is interesting for me is that that place is tight combination of architecture and infrastructure. Also it's its going to be urban - offices, apartments, shopping, amusement, parking - all togehre - so this project is also worth to show in "new and urban" thread.

The name "Vilniaus vartai" ("Vilnius gates") is because of historical reasons. Quote from official web-site:
Long, long ago Lithuanian warriors used to march across the river Neris at exactly this place, in order to defend their motherland; they also used to meet their guests here and lead them to the Castle. Today our city is completely different, the towering new Vilnius Gates shall greet all guests and become the modern symbolic boundary of our city, the gates leading to the centre of Vilnius and opening the way to its heart – the Old Town.

The tallest high-rise and long threefloorer will be built above one of the main traffic artery of Vilnius and cars who enter or leave Vilnius often use this street. So in this point of view it could be called the gates too, although it's at the center of Vilnius.

The map also taken from official web-site (I edited it and wrote some names of known places). Notice that Gediminas avenue with such buildings as national library, etc. are above the tunnel. National library had some problems - cars which go through the tunnel below national library (and other buildings) are causing vibrations and the walls of national library through years started to crack. The parliament members who live in a parliament hotel which is above the tunnel claims that they feel vibrations when cars go through the tunnel. The new complex will have some special background which will help to avoid vibrations. Company which is building "Vilnius gates" will have to renew the old part of tunnel too.
http://img224.exs.cx/img224/2710/imag6ki.jpg (http://www.imageshack.us)

Visit the official web-site of "Vilnius gates" if you want to find out more information about complex: http://www.vilniausvartai.lt/en.php

In the future I think that the tunnel will be extended to the other side too.

I can't understand why something what is boxy should be "cheap" or anyhow "bad"? Take a look at some of worlds best skyscraper projects e.g. Foster's HSBC HQ or Pelli's Citibank HQ in London. Would anybody say they're "cheap"? :?

The localization is great. That smal towers would looks great in that place. :)

dunno... 50mio is... well dunno.... Tornimäe is 40-45mio......but the thing is it consists of a tunnel and things aswell, tunnelling is expensive...
and btw, everything is boxy for you, tornimäe towers are not boxes... just as ET isnt a box... cmon, check tallinn tallest thread ffs :)

dunno... 50mio is... well dunno.... Tornimäe is 40-45mio......but the thing is it consists of a tunnel and things aswell, tunnelling is expensive...
and btw, everything is boxy for you, tornimäe towers are not boxes... just as ET isnt a box... cmon, check tallinn tallest thread ffs :)
40-45 mio? I think I wrote the exact sum: 32 mio. If you want i'll find a source. Ofcourse I'd like to see the source for 40-45 mio if you have any. ;)

If Vilnius gates are boxes then Tornimäe are boxes for sure. :)

Those boxes you both are talking about ain't bad at all !! :|

@LatvianGG: Yes, I have nothing against boxes too. :) There can be ugly boxes or beautiful boxes. ;) (the same goes for "not boxes")

uh? Edd, cmon... a box is something with 4 sides... tornimäe has a pentagonal shape....
and tornimäe costs 500-550 mio eek, thats near 37mio :P but it doesnt have a tunnel going under it :)

uh? Edd, cmon... a box is something with 4 sides... tornimäe has a pentagonal shape....
and tornimäe costs 500-550 mio eek, thats near 37mio :P but it doesnt have a tunnel going under it :)

You are absolutely correct mate, boxes have only 4 sides :yes:

Does that make them worse than Tornimae which has 5 (or how many?) sides?

^^ VILNIUS GATE is beeing built on a tunnel, not tunnel under VILNIUS GATE, so this whole "tunnel thing" doesnt cost as much as you think, its not very expensive to build a "roof" on street ;)

thank you Edd, about explanations. Now i understad that context better.

uh? Edd, cmon... a box is something with 4 sides... tornimäe has a pentagonal shape....
and tornimäe costs 500-550 mio eek, thats near 37mio :P but it doesnt have a tunnel going under it :)
I've read that it'll cost 500 mio eek which is 32 mio EUR. If you are right then it'll cost 32-35 mio EUR not 37 mio EUR. :) Can you give us a source?

@pablonis I think the problem is to make a basement above the tunnel, since the only ceiling is not enough for a building which weights probaby some hundreds of tons ;)

^ but still i think its not as costly as to row a new tunnel under already built big complex of buildings

^^^ For sure :yes:

Really nice project: materials are expensive, design is cool, but I`m not sure how nice this complex will look in real life ( I mean buildings look grey).
And I just looked Vilnius and discovered that central part of city looks very quaint and reminds American city from Need For Speed Underground 2 ;).

sander dunno, never played nfsu2... But talking about video games, some street in Vilnius reminds me of city-17 from half-life2 ;)

I don't mind boxes at all, if they are lookable. And as for that money talk, I don't care how much they put in a project, if a building is ugly, it's ugly. btw. In these kind of cases money just appears to vanish into thin air.

Today i passed by that building site. Everything just gorgeous and it seems that works are going quite fast.

Some fresh update from this site :)

The 4th crane has been assembled
http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y16/mantassss/IMGP2089.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y16/mantassss/IMGP2093.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y16/mantassss/IMGP2097.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y16/mantassss/IMGP2099.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y16/mantassss/IMGP2100.jpg

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y16/mantassss/IMGP2105.jpg

Good job Mantai, thanks for the pictures :okay:

No problem, btw I see another U/C highrise in this pic. Isn't it Helios? :D

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y16/mantassss/IMGP2105.jpg

I see that there are four cranes already at the construction site. :okay:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y16/mantassss/IMGP2099.jpg

hmm.. no wonder building is alot faster in Lithuania, you put buildings together with prefabricated blocks?
PS! correct me if i was wrong :bash:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y16/mantassss/IMGP2099.jpg

hmm.. no wonder building is alot faster in Lithuania, you put buildings together with prefabricated blocks?
PS! correct me if i was wrong :bash:

You were wrong :)
Buildings in Lithuania are built just as elswhere - using monolith concrete frame.

hmm okay, it just seemed to me that that truck was carrying what seemed to be the pilons holding up the roof( the roof was obviously poured).... and i didnt see any frames in where they were pouring concrete to make pilons...
anyhow, alot of "seemed" in my assumption :P

They are working at night - probably that's why they are building it faster. Other projects in Vilnius are also being built at night. Photo by Egle from tinkle.miestai.net forum (this photo is quite old).
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v221/egle/P1010130.jpg

Anyway we all know that Estonians are slow. :D

/\ we dont build at night... it seems unhumane imo... we do it the nordic way

yeah, if people would freeze up in Tallinn if they build at nights :D Actually it doesn't violate any human rights ;)

i know working at nights isnt against humanrights :D Its a good thing imo :D i wish everyone worked like that!!!!

we do it the nordic way

And Lithuanian companies do it the efficient way.

LOL :D

One day might come trade unions and forbid to work at night. Imagine - we would have our shops closed at 20.00, as in Nordic countries :(
(I would never buy any food then and starve to death)
sorry for offtopic

Oh, they work at night, that's the reason you build so fast. :)
For example, at Cirrus construction site, the work begins 7-8am and the building workers leave the site at 3-4pm. And they don't work at weekends.

pretty much the same in Tallinn, but im sure they work til 6-8pm... and now they work on Weekends

Quick note: pretty much all buildings here are built of prefabricated elements and blocks. It can be very efficent and look alright if done carefully. In fact, buildings such as Itämerentori and Sysopen Tower are made of them. Same thing with Cirrus.



One day might come trade unions and forbid to work at night. Imagine - we would have our shops closed at 20.00, as in Nordic countries :(
(I would never buy any food then and starve to death)
sorry for offtopic

They close here at 21.00. Some are open till 23.00.

A-ha!

:D

Quick note: pretty much all buildings here are built of prefabricated elements and blocks. It can be very efficent and look alright if done carefully. In fact, buildings such as Itämerentori and Sysopen Tower are made of them. Same thing with Cirrus.





They close here at 21.00. Some are open till 23.00.

A-ha!

:D
True. They use that method in buildings with steel framework.
Cirrus midsole(?) is not going to be prefabricated, because it has no steel framing. It will be full concrete with prefabricated element walls.
I hope you understood what I was trying to tell you :D

Newest update (photos (c) skunk from Lithuanian urban forum)

http://img185.exs.cx/img185/8686/vv16bj.jpg

http://img185.exs.cx/img185/2928/vv20wf.jpg

http://img185.exs.cx/img185/5126/vv33fc.jpg

Ok, time for some series :D

2004 10 08
http://img349.imageshack.us/img349/2248/200410082wr.jpg

2004 12 28
http://img349.imageshack.us/img349/7783/200412285ok.jpg


2005 01 05
http://img349.imageshack.us/img349/2733/200501052oc.jpg

2005 01 15
http://img349.imageshack.us/img349/5381/200501155yd.jpg

2005 01 22
http://img349.imageshack.us/img349/5784/200501227dk.jpg

2005 02 04
http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/1421/200502040ci.jpg

2005 03 02
http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/7358/200503023aw.jpg

2005 03 07
http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/9580/200503072lk.jpg

2005 03 20
http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/7653/200503204vb.jpg

2005 04 04
http://img240.imageshack.us/img240/1267/200504049cl.jpg

2005 04 18
http://img240.imageshack.us/img240/2296/200504180gy.jpg

2005 04 26
http://img240.imageshack.us/img240/9003/200504268pe.jpg

2005 05 01
http://img44.imageshack.us/img44/3827/200505013kx.jpg

2005 05 09
http://img44.imageshack.us/img44/3087/200505095mk.jpg

2005 05 14
http://img44.imageshack.us/img44/2382/200505146tp.jpg

2005 05 21
http://img285.imageshack.us/img285/8483/200505216ub.jpg

2005 06 13
http://img44.imageshack.us/img44/4558/200506133lm.jpg

2005 06 26
http://img44.imageshack.us/img44/4671/200506261pc.jpg

2005 07 05
http://img44.imageshack.us/img44/192/200507056yu.jpg

2005 07 14
http://img44.imageshack.us/img44/25/200507143di.jpg

2005 07 27
http://img44.imageshack.us/img44/7026/200507271oi.jpg

2005 07 31
http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/9382/200507312pu.jpg

2005 08 11
http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/2955/200508111lf.jpg

2005 08 17
http://img268.imageshack.us/img268/7291/200508174ov.jpg

It's so cool to see how it's slowly growing ;)

Nice urban project!

Thank you, Mantai! :) That's an incredibly fine "construction in progress" photo series! :applause:

Vilnius Gate just grows ... up, UP, UP!!!

Thanks Mantaz,
that a FANTASTIC series you've made there. Keep it up 'till the very end!
:okay:

Wow!!!
This is impressive approach! Will use it myself too...

I'm glad you liked it, guys. Actually it's not the last series I made and Vilnius Gate isn't the only project which I tracked like that ;)

So seems like this whole complex will be a real attraction point. There will be restaurants, a night club (Spanish chain Pasha), cafes, luxurious shops, offices and apartments (the price range is from 2500 €/sqm to 3500 €/sqm). The whole complex is going to be 70 000 m2 big, the total investment should reach 46 mio €. The complex should be opened next autumn. The situation about height of both towers is still unclear (since the cranes are still up).

Some restaurants above the tunnel ;)
http://img513.imageshack.us/img513/1999/imgp76676ns.jpg

renders by plazma.lt (thx to Edd)
http://img203.imageshack.us/img203/8777/ress8uk.jpg

http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/6867/ress12ge.jpg

http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/7540/ress26og.jpg

http://img207.imageshack.us/img207/359/ress33mw.jpg

And cafe in the cup-shaped connecting part (on the right)
http://img512.imageshack.us/img512/9666/imgp76768kc.jpg

http://img228.imageshack.us/img228/8626/res20dk.jpg

http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/4755/res11in.jpg

renders of interiors are looking great ! :cheers:

exellent organic interiors!

I agree with the comments on the interiors. Organic and Star Trek-like at the same time, which is hard to pull off well.
The renderings look great though…love the colors.

I think that having a view of the underpass with all that glass is a cool idea, it will give the place energy and a truly urban feel.

Man those interiors totally rock! I mean it; some of the best interior design I've seen.

Man those interiors totally rock! I mean it; some of the best interior design I've seen.

Great, but I think we need to see that in reality before making assumptions :D

This time interiors are very special. Hope we will see them fast in life

I hate the ineriors :|

The interiors are special indeed... I would say á la Jar Jar Binks syle :D

Sorry for quality, the weather was quite bad. "Vilnius gates" imo looks too massive for such height. Lets hope they'll get permission to increase height.
http://img489.imageshack.us/img489/5039/vv5qi.jpg

http://img499.imageshack.us/img499/6991/vv24cm.jpg

http://img494.imageshack.us/img494/4387/vv39xp.jpg

http://img503.imageshack.us/img503/1846/vv45un.jpg

http://img507.imageshack.us/img507/9201/vv50hi.jpg

http://img505.imageshack.us/img505/9745/vv68gd.jpg

^^ thanks for the photos,Edd.


I really love the interior, looks amazing