2 September marked CPI Hungary’s now formal delivery of its 16,000 square metre Balance Hall office building—BREEAM rated ‘very good’—in the Váci út office corridor, a new facility already completed back in early December 2019.
Balance Office Park has now been developed into a nearly 35,000 square metre office block complex, with a nearly 90% occupancy rate. The innovative, environmentally friendly office building, fully in conformity with the relevant health requirements, is an implementation of CPI’s conscious building concept; thanks to cutting edge technological solutions, it offers massive energy savings and a high-quality workplace experience to tenants.
Although the inaugural ceremony of the Balance Hall office building took place on 2 September owing to the current pandemic situation, CPI HUNGARY had completed the building—with the contractor Fitout Zrt.—by the scheduled completion date in accordance with the original plans despite the difficulties experienced in the construction market, rendering new office spaces available already in December last year.
The delivery of the new building brought to completion the full renewal of Balance Office Park, a complex with a nearly century-long history through the investment project implemented by CPI Hungary, whose popularity with tenants is clearly reflected by its already 90% occupancy rate. At the heart of the office park is a 3,000 square metre green park, providing opportunities for relaxation, work and work-out (e.g. outdoor meeting spaces, resting areas, petanque course) in the context of environmental awareness, wellbeing and workplace experience.
Balance Hall offers tenants the most up-to-date indoor spaces as well as user-friendly and environmentally friendly technical solutions. With the pandemic still around, all conditions and requisites for employees to work in safety are also met. The building embodies CPI Property Group’s creed and commitment to provide a liveable office environment offering high-quality workplace experience and to develop sustainable real estate , that is confirmed by the ‘very good’ BREEAM rating. Moreover, the proven Human Innovation Programme has also been introduced in Balance Hall, whereby the tenants can use convenience services in the area of the building complex.
‘It is a great pleasure for us to be able to formally deliver CPI Hungary’s latest office development in Budapest, which was completed according to plan, at the end of last year. Under the conscious building concept, we offer high-quality tenant experience in the up-to-date Balance Hall with its innovative and optimum office spaces, coupled with smart building operation based on energy awareness. Although our day-to-day lives have been transformed by COVID-19, we do believe that the domestic office market relies on firm fundamentals which will bring about an upswing in the rental market once the pandemic is over so we can resume and continue our value creating real estate development thereafter,’ said CPI Hungary’s country manager Mátyás Gereben.
Under the conscious building concept first introduced in Balance Hall the entirety of cutting edge technical equipment and solutions can be tailored to the building on the basis of its day-to-day operation so that it provides the highest convenience for tenants with a minimised environmental footprint. The building is enabled to optimise the utilisation of the available energy and human resources while encouraging tenants also to work in a more conscious and efficient way.
Expectations were proven right by the concept during the first six months of the building’s operation in practice: the pollutant emission of the building operated by CPI Hungary itself was 40% below conventional office blocks of similar parameters. Based on data collected during the operation of the building the operators monitor the amounts of renewable—recovered—energy whose optimised utilisation generates additional savings. Moreover, tenants can keep tracks of the building’s and their own energy consumption on a specific smart interface so that they can run their office even more environmentally efficiently in cooperation with the operators.
The Balance Hall office block has a wide variety of technical solutions to satisfy the needs of a conscious and sustainable building. For instance, each room’s temperature can be controlled by the building management as well, each separate unit’s energy consumption can be registered, analysed and tracked with the help of sensors in the power, gas and thermal energy and water supply systems. Moreover, the most up-to-date VRV heat pump system has been put in place, and the groundwater extracted from the environment of the building are used for irrigation.
Balance Hall has a splendid location in Budapest’s primary office corridor along Váci út, easy to access by car and the public transport system, including a metro line, while the relatively closed space of the office park ensures undisturbed circumstances for work. The bicycle storage and shower facilities available at the premises offer an alternative for tenants driven by health awareness. Restaurants, cafes, a grocery store and a periodical farmers’ market provide the employees working in the office complex with access to a varied diet.
Cutting-edge innovative solutions in place at Balance Office Park guarantee full synergy, as the renewed and the brand new buildings together form a true office campus with a variety of premises of different layouts and architectural facilities for rent. Large enterprises using the open-space office concept, businesses opting for the conventional work culture and even innovative start-ups can occupy effective and high-quality work spaces in the office park.
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About the owner: CPI Property Group, developer of Balance Hall
CPI Hungary, a member of the CPI Property Group engaged in real estate development and rental, manages the Group’s nearly 350,000 square metre Hungarian portfolio, worth over EUR 650 million, thus it is one of the leading investors and developers in the domestic real estate market. CPI Property Group, domiciled in Luxembourg and listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, is a market leader long-term owner of income generating real estates in the Czech Republic, Berlin and East-Central Europe, with a real estate portfolio worth approx. EUR 9.1 billion.