CrazySerb
November 28th, 2007, 02:15 AM
One very interesting article....well worth the read:okay:
http://www.sloveniatimes.com/en/insi...2-1B6760015E2E
Construction Projects
Reaching for the Sky
23.11.2007
By Jernej Šmajdek
If the recent proliferation of unveilings of plans for building projects including high-rise buildings is anything to go by, Ljubljana’s appearance is to witness a drastic upheaval in the coming years. The skyline of the city, presently dominated by the 75-metre World Trade Centre building as the tallest office tower and the 100-metre chimney of the Ljubljana cogeneration plant as the tallest free-standing structure, is to be enriched with a number of new additions. It is hoped that the successful realisation of these projects proves out to be one of the important steps on Ljubljana’s path to becoming a modern European metropolis.
The Slovenia Times has already reported on the Tobačna City project, where by 2015 the developer Imos is planning to build ten residential and office tower blocks with heights ranging from 16 to 20 storeys, and the EUR 222 million Emonika City Center, where by 2010 the Canadian-Hungarian real estate developer Trigranit Development Corporation will build, in public-private partnership with the Municipality of Ljubljana and the Slovenian Railways, a new railway and bus station, a shopping centre, hotel, a 100-metre office tower and a 60-metre residential building. In addition to these two mega projects, six additional bold construction schemes have recently been presented to the public.
A new city centre landmark
The one that met with the widest public response was the unveiling of the modified architectural solution for the new multifunctional complex in the very centre of Ljubljana, called Novi Kolizej. The building is to be built on site of the Kolizej, a 19th century building originally constructed to house soldiers and serve for smaller social events, but which has in the last century and especially since the end of World War II mostly just been a refuge for people from the margins of society. Despite enjoying protected status since 1993, without effective ownership Kolizej has been slowly falling into ruin and has even seen part of its structure collapse and causing loss of life.
When its present owner, the Carnolian Investment Company (CIC), bought the building, it decided to turn the location into a future city landmark and a new hub of social and cultural life in the capital. It invited six highly regarded foreign architectural bureaus to draw up ideas for the site. In autumn of 2004, the winning solution by Dutch architects Willem Jan Neutelings and his partner Michiel Riedijk was unveiled. It included tearing down the old building and erecting a new multifunctional complex with a concert and opera hall for roughly 1400 people at its heart, a 25-storey 98-metre tower block, an additional smaller high-rise building with a mixed business, retail and residential programme and two adjoining residential villas.
Even though some emphasized that Ljubljana needed an iconic building, additional cultural facilities and greater boldness in its development approach, the project provoked the wrath of the majority of local architects and town planning experts. How much of it was due to offence over the fact that the architectural competition only included invited foreign architects and how much was real concern for the fate of the protected building is open to interpretation. The fact does remain however that the investor did exceed the spatial planning conditions in force for the area and that his closed competition was also legally questionable.
The project was a real test of the investor’s stamina. After three years of efforts and legal wrangling to provide alternative housing for the tenants of the old building and to defy all the attempts of state authorities to prevent him from carrying out his scheme, CIC presented new modified plans for the complex in late October. These have been changed to take into account all of the demands from the city town planners. While the programme remains the same, the total service area has been reduced by 15,000 m2 to 83,000 m2. The tower block has been downsized to 74 metres and 18 storeys, while the concert and opera hall area has actually been increased by 6,000 m2 and will now be able to seat 1,811 people, rivalling opera houses in London, Milan and Vienna. There will also be a five-storey shopping mall and a winter garden above the hall that will serve as a panoramic terrace.
The total project is estimated at EUR 180 million, while the concert and opera hall alone is projected to cost EUR 70 million. CIC plans to carry out the investment by itself and is for the time being not actively seeking financial partners. The company is however open to the possibility of partnering up with interested domestic or foreign investors. Construction is set to begin in late 2008, while the end of works is planned for June 2012.
However, the old Kolizej remains under the protected status of a monument of local importance and the lifting of this particular municipal decree requires the approval of the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia. While the city authorities assure the public that they will not stand in the way of the redrawn project as it is part of Ljubljana’s urban development plan, the final decision of the institute is far less predictable as opposition to the project is still active.
A second city core takes shape
The next two projects are part of the broader long-term development strategy of the municipality of Ljubljana, according to which the wider area of BTC City, presently the largest shopping and entertainment centre in Slovenia and one of the largest high-density retail and amusement areas in the region, is to turn into a second city core integrating retail, entertainment, business and residential functions.
BTC, the company that manages BTC City, has announced plans to build a 20-storey office tower and a 17-storey hotel. While the plans for the hotel, which is to have around 300 three- or four-star rooms and whose estimated investment value is EUR 25-30 million, are still in the drafting phase, the architectural competition for the office tower was already completed. Shortly, the selection panel is to select the winning solution.
The new EUR 50 million skyscraper will be near the present 13-storey office tower and will measure between 85 and 90 metres in height. It will have around 25,000 m2 of high quality business premises and an additional 19,000 m2 of parking space. It is to become the heart of BTC City and a widely recognizable architectural element. Through the construction of the new skyscraper, BTC will offer altogether around 50,000 m2 of business space for all types of business activities.
The construction of the new office block and hotel is tied to the modifications of the spatial planning conditions, which the municipality is forecast to adopt in early 2008. The investor plans to begin with the works in the second half of next year and the construction is to be completed by May 2010. The final decision about the investment partners for the project has not yet been taken and the company is also looking abroad for co-financing possibilities.
On the other side of BTC City, the second largest construction and investment group in the country, GH Holding, is planning to build twin 18-storey office towers. The construction of the EUR 60 million project named Gemini is to begin in mid-2008, right after the changes to the spatial planning conditions are approved. The “BTC twins”, made out of energy efficient building materials according to the investor and most user-friendly to the 2000 or so expected tenants, are to be built in early 2010. In addition to 4,500 m2 of high-end retail space, 17,500 m2 will be devoted to office space. In the initial phase, the investor plans to let out the premises and move its own headquarters to the new development, while the company’s further plans are to sell the entire complex as a financial investment to the best buyer after around two years of use, so as to minimize risks for the potential new investor related to the purchase of a brand new untested building. The company has not yet started extensive marketing and promotion activities, which it is due to start in the second quarter of next year, but some initial interest from home and abroad has already been shown and the investor deems its attractive location as a guarantee for the success of the project.
There’s more folks
Within the revitalisation area of the present railway station and diagonally across from the future Emonika City Center, the construction firm Kraški Zidar and the real estate company Metropola are planning to build a business and residential complex named Vilharjeva. The project value is estimated at EUR 48 million and will be made up of two connected smaller buildings with a 65-metre residential tower block in the middle. The smaller buildings will be devoted to shops, offices, a bank, a fitness studio and other services. The tower block will include 100 high-end apartments. According to the representative of the investors, the buildings are to be unique in design, made up of quality and sustainable materials, with maintenance costs reduced to a minimum; the plans are to guarantee synergies and will make being in the building easy, safe and comfortable.
The complex will provide easy access to the future travel hub in the Emonika City Center and will be designed according to the principles of an intelligent building with state of the art information and communication technology. The beginning of construction is due for September 2008 and is projected for completion by March 2010.
Just across the street from Emonika, on one of the gateways to the city centre, the real estate leasing company and developer Immorent and the company Bavarski dvor are developing a project dubbed Northern Gate. The infrastructure work for the two high-rise buildings has already begun and the investors have also completed a joint competition for the best urbanist solution for the area. While the company Bavarski dvor has already completed the architectural competition for their building, it has not yet disclosed details of the project. Immorent on the other hand has only just called for architectural solutions to be tendered, but has already announced that their office block would offer around 16,000 m2 of business space while the ground floor would be devoted to public services. The building will be between 70 and 72 metres tall and the project will cost anywhere between EUR 25 and 30 million. The construction of both office blocks, which will be similar in size, is to begin in the second half of next year and should be completed by 2010.
Will Ljubljana’s development keep up the pace?
With so many major projects in progress, the question that poses itself is of course if the economy of the country and city will generate enough interest for all the new office space that is to enter the market and if the standard of living will be improving fast enough for demand to meet the supply of new high-end apartments. The answer of the mayor of Ljubljana and other top city officials is that they support all investors that abide by the guidelines of town planning and bring new quality to the urban environment, while they leave it up to the investors to manage the risks associated with the investments. Since all these projects are major and the amounts involved are large, one would of course expect that the investors have analysed the market well and have based their decisions on real demand for the kind of programmes their projects will provide.
As to the lavish new concert and opera hall, the investor claims that his number one goal is not to make a hefty profit out of the facility, but to give Ljubljana a defining feature that will put it on the European map, draw in visitors from other parts of Slovenia and the neighbouring countries, function as a cultural magnet and serve as a generator of cultural and creative energies. According to the investor, Ljubljana needs to position and market itself as a capital within Europe and create demand from tourists and investors. In addition to Novi Kolizej, it needs at least ten more one-of-a-kind new urban landmarks that will complement its historic heritage.
Sceptics respond that Ljubljana as a city simply is not large and attractive enough to support such grand schemes. While acting upon doubt and scepticism allows us to shield ourselves from possible risks, it also makes us miss many potentially great opportunities. After decades of stagnation in urban development, it is perhaps time for Ljubljana to simply take the plunge.
:cheers: :cheers: :cheers:
http://www.sloveniatimes.com/en/insi...2-1B6760015E2E
Construction Projects
Reaching for the Sky
23.11.2007
By Jernej Šmajdek
If the recent proliferation of unveilings of plans for building projects including high-rise buildings is anything to go by, Ljubljana’s appearance is to witness a drastic upheaval in the coming years. The skyline of the city, presently dominated by the 75-metre World Trade Centre building as the tallest office tower and the 100-metre chimney of the Ljubljana cogeneration plant as the tallest free-standing structure, is to be enriched with a number of new additions. It is hoped that the successful realisation of these projects proves out to be one of the important steps on Ljubljana’s path to becoming a modern European metropolis.
The Slovenia Times has already reported on the Tobačna City project, where by 2015 the developer Imos is planning to build ten residential and office tower blocks with heights ranging from 16 to 20 storeys, and the EUR 222 million Emonika City Center, where by 2010 the Canadian-Hungarian real estate developer Trigranit Development Corporation will build, in public-private partnership with the Municipality of Ljubljana and the Slovenian Railways, a new railway and bus station, a shopping centre, hotel, a 100-metre office tower and a 60-metre residential building. In addition to these two mega projects, six additional bold construction schemes have recently been presented to the public.
A new city centre landmark
The one that met with the widest public response was the unveiling of the modified architectural solution for the new multifunctional complex in the very centre of Ljubljana, called Novi Kolizej. The building is to be built on site of the Kolizej, a 19th century building originally constructed to house soldiers and serve for smaller social events, but which has in the last century and especially since the end of World War II mostly just been a refuge for people from the margins of society. Despite enjoying protected status since 1993, without effective ownership Kolizej has been slowly falling into ruin and has even seen part of its structure collapse and causing loss of life.
When its present owner, the Carnolian Investment Company (CIC), bought the building, it decided to turn the location into a future city landmark and a new hub of social and cultural life in the capital. It invited six highly regarded foreign architectural bureaus to draw up ideas for the site. In autumn of 2004, the winning solution by Dutch architects Willem Jan Neutelings and his partner Michiel Riedijk was unveiled. It included tearing down the old building and erecting a new multifunctional complex with a concert and opera hall for roughly 1400 people at its heart, a 25-storey 98-metre tower block, an additional smaller high-rise building with a mixed business, retail and residential programme and two adjoining residential villas.
Even though some emphasized that Ljubljana needed an iconic building, additional cultural facilities and greater boldness in its development approach, the project provoked the wrath of the majority of local architects and town planning experts. How much of it was due to offence over the fact that the architectural competition only included invited foreign architects and how much was real concern for the fate of the protected building is open to interpretation. The fact does remain however that the investor did exceed the spatial planning conditions in force for the area and that his closed competition was also legally questionable.
The project was a real test of the investor’s stamina. After three years of efforts and legal wrangling to provide alternative housing for the tenants of the old building and to defy all the attempts of state authorities to prevent him from carrying out his scheme, CIC presented new modified plans for the complex in late October. These have been changed to take into account all of the demands from the city town planners. While the programme remains the same, the total service area has been reduced by 15,000 m2 to 83,000 m2. The tower block has been downsized to 74 metres and 18 storeys, while the concert and opera hall area has actually been increased by 6,000 m2 and will now be able to seat 1,811 people, rivalling opera houses in London, Milan and Vienna. There will also be a five-storey shopping mall and a winter garden above the hall that will serve as a panoramic terrace.
The total project is estimated at EUR 180 million, while the concert and opera hall alone is projected to cost EUR 70 million. CIC plans to carry out the investment by itself and is for the time being not actively seeking financial partners. The company is however open to the possibility of partnering up with interested domestic or foreign investors. Construction is set to begin in late 2008, while the end of works is planned for June 2012.
However, the old Kolizej remains under the protected status of a monument of local importance and the lifting of this particular municipal decree requires the approval of the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia. While the city authorities assure the public that they will not stand in the way of the redrawn project as it is part of Ljubljana’s urban development plan, the final decision of the institute is far less predictable as opposition to the project is still active.
A second city core takes shape
The next two projects are part of the broader long-term development strategy of the municipality of Ljubljana, according to which the wider area of BTC City, presently the largest shopping and entertainment centre in Slovenia and one of the largest high-density retail and amusement areas in the region, is to turn into a second city core integrating retail, entertainment, business and residential functions.
BTC, the company that manages BTC City, has announced plans to build a 20-storey office tower and a 17-storey hotel. While the plans for the hotel, which is to have around 300 three- or four-star rooms and whose estimated investment value is EUR 25-30 million, are still in the drafting phase, the architectural competition for the office tower was already completed. Shortly, the selection panel is to select the winning solution.
The new EUR 50 million skyscraper will be near the present 13-storey office tower and will measure between 85 and 90 metres in height. It will have around 25,000 m2 of high quality business premises and an additional 19,000 m2 of parking space. It is to become the heart of BTC City and a widely recognizable architectural element. Through the construction of the new skyscraper, BTC will offer altogether around 50,000 m2 of business space for all types of business activities.
The construction of the new office block and hotel is tied to the modifications of the spatial planning conditions, which the municipality is forecast to adopt in early 2008. The investor plans to begin with the works in the second half of next year and the construction is to be completed by May 2010. The final decision about the investment partners for the project has not yet been taken and the company is also looking abroad for co-financing possibilities.
On the other side of BTC City, the second largest construction and investment group in the country, GH Holding, is planning to build twin 18-storey office towers. The construction of the EUR 60 million project named Gemini is to begin in mid-2008, right after the changes to the spatial planning conditions are approved. The “BTC twins”, made out of energy efficient building materials according to the investor and most user-friendly to the 2000 or so expected tenants, are to be built in early 2010. In addition to 4,500 m2 of high-end retail space, 17,500 m2 will be devoted to office space. In the initial phase, the investor plans to let out the premises and move its own headquarters to the new development, while the company’s further plans are to sell the entire complex as a financial investment to the best buyer after around two years of use, so as to minimize risks for the potential new investor related to the purchase of a brand new untested building. The company has not yet started extensive marketing and promotion activities, which it is due to start in the second quarter of next year, but some initial interest from home and abroad has already been shown and the investor deems its attractive location as a guarantee for the success of the project.
There’s more folks
Within the revitalisation area of the present railway station and diagonally across from the future Emonika City Center, the construction firm Kraški Zidar and the real estate company Metropola are planning to build a business and residential complex named Vilharjeva. The project value is estimated at EUR 48 million and will be made up of two connected smaller buildings with a 65-metre residential tower block in the middle. The smaller buildings will be devoted to shops, offices, a bank, a fitness studio and other services. The tower block will include 100 high-end apartments. According to the representative of the investors, the buildings are to be unique in design, made up of quality and sustainable materials, with maintenance costs reduced to a minimum; the plans are to guarantee synergies and will make being in the building easy, safe and comfortable.
The complex will provide easy access to the future travel hub in the Emonika City Center and will be designed according to the principles of an intelligent building with state of the art information and communication technology. The beginning of construction is due for September 2008 and is projected for completion by March 2010.
Just across the street from Emonika, on one of the gateways to the city centre, the real estate leasing company and developer Immorent and the company Bavarski dvor are developing a project dubbed Northern Gate. The infrastructure work for the two high-rise buildings has already begun and the investors have also completed a joint competition for the best urbanist solution for the area. While the company Bavarski dvor has already completed the architectural competition for their building, it has not yet disclosed details of the project. Immorent on the other hand has only just called for architectural solutions to be tendered, but has already announced that their office block would offer around 16,000 m2 of business space while the ground floor would be devoted to public services. The building will be between 70 and 72 metres tall and the project will cost anywhere between EUR 25 and 30 million. The construction of both office blocks, which will be similar in size, is to begin in the second half of next year and should be completed by 2010.
Will Ljubljana’s development keep up the pace?
With so many major projects in progress, the question that poses itself is of course if the economy of the country and city will generate enough interest for all the new office space that is to enter the market and if the standard of living will be improving fast enough for demand to meet the supply of new high-end apartments. The answer of the mayor of Ljubljana and other top city officials is that they support all investors that abide by the guidelines of town planning and bring new quality to the urban environment, while they leave it up to the investors to manage the risks associated with the investments. Since all these projects are major and the amounts involved are large, one would of course expect that the investors have analysed the market well and have based their decisions on real demand for the kind of programmes their projects will provide.
As to the lavish new concert and opera hall, the investor claims that his number one goal is not to make a hefty profit out of the facility, but to give Ljubljana a defining feature that will put it on the European map, draw in visitors from other parts of Slovenia and the neighbouring countries, function as a cultural magnet and serve as a generator of cultural and creative energies. According to the investor, Ljubljana needs to position and market itself as a capital within Europe and create demand from tourists and investors. In addition to Novi Kolizej, it needs at least ten more one-of-a-kind new urban landmarks that will complement its historic heritage.
Sceptics respond that Ljubljana as a city simply is not large and attractive enough to support such grand schemes. While acting upon doubt and scepticism allows us to shield ourselves from possible risks, it also makes us miss many potentially great opportunities. After decades of stagnation in urban development, it is perhaps time for Ljubljana to simply take the plunge.
:cheers: :cheers: :cheers: