The new Nova office building is open not only to business, but also to the public

“The pandemic made an impact on the construction process, but not the deadlines – Nova was completed on time. However, restrictions of quarantine have naturally slightly delayed the installation of catering establishments – there was no rush to open at the beginning of the year, and at the moment the restaurants are slowly starting to produce takeaway food. We still have some available office spaces  in Nova, but we are already directing the inquiries from larger companies to our Beta building – we will soon start its reconstruction and some of the ideas born during the installation of Nova will be implemented there,” says Karolina Cubrinske, Technopolis Service Manager.

The solutions installed in the Nova building were designed before the new pandemic reality came true, so many of them were re-examined during construction and installation. “Some of the initially planned solutions became especially relevant during the pandemic. For example, our concept of dividing a building into small 2.7 m modules increases the flexibility that businesses now need even more – offices can be easily transformed, enlarged or downsized if necessary. The advanced video and audio broadcasting equipment, which was planned in the conference and meeting rooms from the very beginning, has also paid off. It is still unlikely that massive events will take place in the halls soon, but hybrid meetings combining the physical participation of several people with the virtual connection of other participants can gradually take place,” says Technopolis Service Manager.

More than 26,000 square meter building was designed by Tumas Mazuras and Egle Olisauskyte according to the concept of the Finnish architect Jari Lonka. The concept of common areas was also inspired by the general design of the Technopolis Group. Emphasizing the trends of business and work without borders, the aim was to ensure that employees and guests find themselves in an environment they already know when entering new buildings in any city – Helsinki, Tampere, Tallinn or Vilnius.

“The most important task of the project was to “populate” the common spaces with people – to make them full of movement, communication and bustle. Therefore, the ground floor space is open not only to the people working in Nova, but also to all residents and guests of the city. The interior reflects the refined shapes and colors of the Scandinavian style, reminiscent of natural elements, wood textures and rational simplicity. We designed the common spaces in such a way that one would want to stop and communicate there,” says K. Cubrinske.

On the ground floor there is a café, MIN Food Market gastronomy space, which houses several catering companies in one place, a conference center with a largest hall for up to 250 people as well as a cozy room for relaxing and meditating. The terraces of the building will also be open for the public – on the 6th floor it will be possible to rent an exclusive VIP conference room with a separate entrance to the common terrace, where both day and evening events will be expected in the future.

The second floor of the building is intended for smaller offices with a common infrastructure. The tenants of this floor will share a cozy kitchen, modern meeting rooms and other spaces for gathering or meetings. There will also be a sports area for Nova tenants, with regular group activities.

The roof of the LEED Gold certified, A+ energy class Nova building is crowned by an impressive shared terrace with a view of the Ozas park and the city as well as its own solar power plants. The supply of Technopolis buildings with self-produced solar energy is further expanded – solar power plants have been installed on Technopolis office buildings since 2016. From now on, it is planned that the campus itself will produce 10 percent of the total amount of electricity required every year.