LPP has completed the construction of its new office building in Kraków
The headquarters of LPP’s Kraków branch, where the design offices of House and Mohito brands are located, is now ready to welcome the employees. The new space has been adapted to the needs of the fashion company’s creative team. Sustainable solutions applied in the building will have a positive impact on the comfort of work of the 400-person crew and energy efficiency of the entire 9 thousand square metres building. The new seat was handed over on 20 April.
The project to expand the Kraków branch of LPP, located on Bagrowa Street, began in March 2016. – We needed a more flexible space tailored to the needs of our Kraków teams. We knew that our existing office infrastructure, due to the solutions applied there, does not allow for introduction of any additional facilities, so we decided to start conceptual and design work on the new seat. Finally, the outcome responds to the demanding requirements of two fashion brands – Mohito and House. In almost two years, a modern building designed for almost 400 people was built. Due to the current situation, today not everyone can yet enjoy the facilities, because most people work remotely, but technically we are ready to welcome all employees – says Łukasz Piwoński, Administrative and Technical Director, LPP.
The office building with a total area of 9 thousand square metres is a three-storey building, which, despite the current situation and the fact that the company suspended most of its investments, including, among others, the extension of the headquarters in Gdańsk, was completed due to the advanced stage of construction. The construction and assembly works were handled by Re-Bau Sp. Z o.o., a local company , which managed to complete the first stage of the investment just one year after the start of works. The interior design and functionality of the space was the entrusted to the clothing company’s long-term business partner – Studio 1:1, a Tri-City company, which also designed the headquarters of LPP Fashion Lab in Gdańsk. The modern look of the façade is the idea of Tomasz Zawisza, an architect from Kraków experienced in design and execution of the construction of “green” properties.
The company wanted to create a headquarters that would combine comfort for employees and energy efficiency. For this purpose, the company decided to implement BMS (Building Management System) which manages the automation of the building. It is primarily responsible for reducing energy consumption of the applied solutions, while maintaining thermal comfort of the interiors. To this end, the air recovery system, among others, was used, whereby heat in the building is recovered from the exhaust air, reducing energy demand, ensuring filtration of rooms from pollution and dust, and leaving fresh air in. In addition, the air handling units are equipped with the highest quality filters, trapping PM2.5 and PM10 particles, as well as chambers with UV lamps eliminating germs. The windows are fitted with low-emission glass – popular in green buildings, and the floors are lined with anti-allergic flooring. All this, combined with the maximum use of daylight potential and live plants, has been implemented with the comfort of employees in mind.
Appropriate arrangement of space is very important in the work of creative teams. For this purpose, light colouring in the rooms, among other things, was used to provide a great background for the designed collections. Thanks to the workshop areas, where the design workstations are combined with the store arrangement, each team has a chance to test their ideas in conditions which mirror those in which the customers then make their purchases. In place of the existing warehouse building, the construction of a pilot store is also planned, which will be an additional space for testing design concepts.
Meeting zones have also been provided. On the ground floor, there are conference rooms and open spaces with bar stools. Similarly to LPP headquarters in Gdańsk, also the Kraków office has been equipped with phone booths with an increased sound absorption coefficient, which allows for comfortable conversation. The whole interior is complemented by an almost 300-metre-long canteen, with a full culinary offer and a separate cafeteria zone.
In the interest of employees’ well-being, their numerous sports passions were also taken into account. To this end, the space outside the facility is complemented not only by benches for socialising, but also a mini gym or a basketball court, which was created near the pre-existing beach volleyball court. In the near future, there will also be a charging station for electric cars. Once everyone returns to the stationary mode of work, it is also planned to announce a competition among employees for the name of the new building. The same was done in the case of the company’s headquarters in Gdańsk, where the employees jointly decided to name the offices on Łąkowa Street “Fashion Lab”.
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LPP SA is a Polish family business and one of the fastest growing clothing companies in the region of Central and Eastern Europe. For over 25 years it has been successfully operating in Poland and abroad, offering its collection already on 25 markets, including in such prestigious capitals as London, Berlin, Tel Aviv or Moscow. LPP SA manages five fashion brands: Reserved, Cropp, House, Mohito, and Sinsay. The company has a chain of over 1700 stores with the total area of over 1 million sq.m. The online offer of the brands collections is available on 30 markets. LPP plays another important role as it employs over 25 thousand people in its offices and sales structures in Poland, Europe, Asia, and Africa. The company is listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange in the WIG20 index and belongs to the prestigious MSCI Poland index.