Warsaw Financial Center opens new lobby

The building’s main lobby has been given a completely new design and re-organised. Epstein is responsible for the new mostly black and white design, Aluglass-Realizacja was the general contractor and Jones Lang LaSalle coordinated the work. Old wood panelling has been removed and replaced with glass with stainless steel elements. New classical black sofas have been added to correspond with the mirrored ceiling and the upgraded lighting system. The heart of the lobby is a new videowall, made up of 24 seamless monitors. This will feature visual arts by top Polish and international artists. As the owner of the building emphasises, this is the only publicly accessible feature of this sort in Poland. The new WFC lobby also includes a new access control system with interactive info kiosks to make it easier to move around the building. New retail concepts will be introduced to the ground floor in early 2015. “There were several factors that led to the decision to renovate the lobby, including the need for responding to thelatest trends. The aesthetic aspect was not the only criterion during the work. Despite the high expense, such a far-reaching refurbishment will mean lower long-term maintenance costs,” summarises Artur Lis, an asset manager at Tristan Capital Partners. Warsaw Financial Center has changed substantially since its acquisition in 2012 by Allianz Real Estate and Curzon Capital Partners III, an investment fund managed by Tristan Capital Partners. The visual identity of the building has been updated and a new elevator destination control system has been installed. In addition, a host of environmentally friendly solutions have been implemented in a process geared towards meeting green certification requirements. As a result of these efforts, in October 2014 the building was awarded a LEED ‘Gold’ certificatefor an existing building.