Redevelopment

City Point – in the heart of Vienna

Renovations while the office keeps running

Room for change – office buildings need to tick one box first and foremost: They need to be adaptable and meet their tenants’ requirements, making (work) life easier. Active asset management has made it possible to enhance the value of an office building that has been around for decades in the heart of Vienna. New state-of-the-art work environments have been created at City Point in Vienna while work carries on as usual. The renovations have resulted in flexible space for modern new work concepts and requirements. Spanning a total of over 24,300 sqm of office space, spread over eight floors, the new open-plan spaces facilitate the modern world of work.

The departure of a tenant presented a unique opportunity to fully realise and utilise the potential of the property. Renovation work was primarily focused on upgrading the leasable areas in line with the latest ESG and sustainability criteria.

Part of the total area has been brought up to the latest technical standard. Two previously separate parts of the building have been interconnected in an accessible layout, while the leasable spaces, which were previously structurally separated across two parts of the building, were converted into one large, flexible and multifunctional leasable area. The floor-by-floor connection across buildings has created spacious, flexible office spaces up to 1,300 sqm in size. The technical equipment and controls for two parts of the building have been renewed. The existing premises is being gradually converted. An additional lift was installed to ensure the vertical accessibility of building section N1. 

Key features for modern office use include air conditioning of leasable areas as well as the ability to flexibly adapt the space to tenant use requirements. As part of the refurbishment, the ventilation and air extraction systems for all leasable areas were brought up to the latest technical standards for offices and conference rooms.

Basic fit-out: overview of work carried out

• Dismantling and gutting of building sections S3 and N1 almost down to the shell (façade remains intact)
• Installation of another lift in building section N1
• Demolition of the staircase in S3 and construction of a staircase in N1 with ground-level connection between the building sections (accessibility)
• New entrances to the leasable areas for each rental unit
• Creation of flexible use options as single, combined and open-plan offices
• Repair of the external sun shading system
• New ventilation system for both parts of the building; ceiling panelling in the central zone
• New cooling centre for the entire building, including new enclosure on the roof area
• Cooling via ceiling canopy, which permits a ceiling height of 2.80 m for open-plan offices
• New sanitary facilities and kitchenettes
• Renewal of the high- and low-voltage cabling, including sub-distribution
• Full-area fire alarm system (no sprinklers)
• Equipped with LED lighting
• LAN distributor/IT room with fan coil in each rental unit
• Pre-installation of meters for small-scale leasing

• Modification and expansion of the existing building automation

• Implementation of MeteoViva

• Installation of a PV system on the roof areas

The result:

Deka Immobilien focused on eco-friendly revitalisation for renovation work performed during ongoing operations in order to achieve optimum environmental friendliness: 

• Reduce carbon emissions by 88%
• Reduce the amount of energy required by 69%
• Improve the overall energy efficiency factor from B to A
• Improve the BREEAM certification: The City Point building in Vienna has already been awarded the rating "Excellent" (Part 1) for its numerous sustainability features. Once the project is complete, the in-use score (Part 2) will be upgraded to “Excellent” as part of the re-certification process.

Ville L’Évêque office building in Paris

Revitalisation and repositioning of an existing property

Heritage conservation is no hindrance to sustainability-focused revitalisation. Ville L’Évêque, an office building in the heart of Paris’s 8th arrondissement, is proof of that. After the long-standing tenant moved out, Deka Immobilien hired the high-profile architecture firm Baumschlager Eberle to fully renovate the property. The plans called for preserving the listed façade while modernising technical equipment, completing energy-efficiency upgrades and adding space on each floor to give the building a fresh lease on life. A variety of bespoke solutions that did not play a role when the property was built some 50 years ago were created for the new Ville L’Évêque.

User comfort was another high priority at the planning stage, alongside energy-efficient operation. The transparent new design of the entrance hall, with the two opposite entrances from Rue Ville L’Évêque and Rue de Surène, gave the building a visible facelift. Connecting the entrance hall with the green courtyard and the spacious public area on the roof terrace, as well as creating wooden structural elements in front of the courtyard façade and on the roof terrace, lends the building a unique quality. The wooden structure is both an eye-catching design element and a source of additional passive protection from the sun. 

Measures at a glance

• Stripping the existing structure down to its shell and redesigning the entire property in line with the façade’s listed status, accessibility standards and labour law
• Creating roughly 500 sqm of additional office space
• Reconfiguring the entrance area to feature a modern, high-end lobby
• New pathways, signs and ceiling heights
• Redesigning the courtyard and creating a new green roof terrace, including a rainwater recovery system for watering green spaces on the roof and outside the building
• Designing and creating innovative and flexible office spaces and sanitary facilities, as well as multifunctional service spaces and meeting rooms
• Replacing lifts and technical building equipment (such as LED lighting, meters and building automation)
• Creating bicycle parking spaces in the basement, with showers and sanitary facilities for tenants, as well as electric vehicle charging stations in the underground car park

The result

The revitalisation of the outdated building in a prominent location demonstrates that renovation in line with both heritage conservation and sustainability works well.

The outer shell of the building, the technology inside it and the surrounding infrastructure have received a contemporary “green” upgrade. As an HQE Excellent and BREEAM Very Good-certified building, Ville L’Evêque meets the highest standards in terms of functionality, sustainability and healthy indoor air quality. During the extensive revitalisation measures, the building, with a total of roughly 4,200 m2 of office space, was fully leased to the law offices of Simmons & Simmons.

Akropolis: revitalisation with an eye to the future

The way to shoppers’ hearts is through their stomachs.

One strength of shopping centres that enjoy long-term success is their ability to develop into places for rest and relaxation. This ensures that they remain attractive to customers and tenants – and valuable for investors. High-quality dining and entertainment options are becoming increasingly important, as they improve the shopping experience, provide places to relax and serve as meeting points.

One example of just such a successful modernisation project is the Akropolis shopping centre, which opened in Kaunas, Lithuania, in 2007. To allow the shopping centre to safeguard its excellent city-centre location for the future, Deka Immobilien invested around EUR 10 million in extensively redesigning the roughly 10,000 sqm restaurant and entertainment area.

Work completed while the shopping centre was still open for business:

• Creation of a plaza with natural lighting
• Modern restoration of historical building sections and façades
• Emphasis placed on historical building structure
• Enhancement of the partially historical space thanks to contemporary interpretations of historical façades
• Creation of many visual spatial frames of reference (ceiling and wall openings)
• Connection of interior and exterior areas
• Multiple access to all areas on level 2
• High-end two-storey design of shop fronts

Results

The conversion of the old food service areas to an attractive food court was completed in just 15 months. At the end of 2019, the opening of the new food court was celebrated with an amazing light and sound show. Culinary diversity is assured by 13 new and trendy eateries and café concepts. The 1200-sqm, light-filled plaza is a key attraction and hosts a variety of events throughout the year. The redesign of the food and entertainment area has greatly enhanced the appeal of the shopping centre, which now draws in an increased number of visitors.