Photo: novaston.comNumerous are challenges in architecture during the turbulent times in the construction industry, and the reconstruction project of the former production hall of the Novkabel factory in the industrial zone of Novi Sad is a successful example of how to deal with them. The Novaston company is a partner in the realization of sustainable projects, and Novaston Project Management (NPM), as part of the Novaston platform, has been involved in this project from the very beginning, in the position of project manager. Together with the other participants in this project, they dealt with the implementation of the guidelines of the future user of the facility in the design process, green certification and coordination of the construction process.
"The facility covers an area of approximately 11,000 square meters, and upon completion of the works, it will have approximately 16,500 square meters of gross area. The reconstruction concept was developed from the basic requirements of the future user, and is based on sustainable principles: integration with greenery and natural light, organization of the work space in accordance with corporate policy and certification of the facility with a minimum LEED Gold certificate. Architects from the Zabriskie studio have very successfully implemented the idea of integrating natural light and greenery into the work space to the greatest extent possible by opening the simple base of the building with proper internal gardens (as many as 4 atriums). Along the facade itself, on the inner side, a green belt has been placed along which work spaces are organized. Of the approximately 35,000 square meters around the building, more than 12,000 square meters are covered with greenery. When it comes to the organization of the interior space, the principle of Town Planning as well as the Activity Base Workspace was applied, which implies that employees do not have fixed workplaces," explains Jelena Jolović, project manager of the Novaston platform.
According to her, the facility is in the process of obtaining the LEED Gold certificate. Together with partners from the company TGBG, Novaston provided design guidelines and started the certification process immediately after the concept was set up. When the building is officially completed, the systems will be tested and the collected documentation checked, then the LEED Gold certificate will be issued. The initiator was the user of the space - the company Schneider Electric, and it was challenging for Novaston to achieve such a high level of certification through the reconstruction process.
"What is particularly interesting about this project is that the investment is not a greenfield, but rather reconstruction and revitalization. LEED mandates that care should be taken with the materials that are installed, so we had the opportunity to somehow return the dismantled material from the construction site to the building, such as concrete that was crushed and reused for the layers under the floor slab. Unfortunately, there are no local recycling plants that would help us reuse all the dismantled material. Social sustainability is an important aspect of business, but also of sustainable construction. The facility is maximally user-friendly through the improved characteristics of the three-layer glass facade, reinforced roof covering and most importantly - it will have solar energy produced on the facility through the roof solar panels.
Although it is more profitable for the investor to certify the facility while the project is still on paper, select targeted loans and formulate a budget, Novaston also has clients in its portfolio who have decided to subsequently certify facilities that are already in use. We successfully achieved this by implementing and adding new solutions, and by creating extensive documentation and thus were part of projects that change awareness and set new standards in the field of sustainability, concludes Jelena Jolović.
Source: novaston.com
