OREANDA-NEWS. The 13-storey office building in Ulemiste City that is being built by Nordecon got a cornerstone today. The building will have a unique architectural facade and design, and, as one of the first such buildings in Estonia, feature environmental and energy conservation indicators that comply with the LEED Gold Standard certificate.

„This building reserved more attention already in the project design phase, in which Nordecon was able to participate," said Jaano Vink, Chairman of the Management Board of Nordecon AS. „We designed the building as a fully three-dimensional model, ranging from structures to building's technical systems. This makes it possible to visually study the final look of the building and, if necessary, make changes before the actual start of construction work."

Jaano Vink said that it was important that the new office building will be built largely of renewable materials. "The building will have an uncoated silvery double façade attached to a separate shell and form an irregular square pattern on the building's three sides. The whole south wall will be covered with solar panels that will supply some of the energy needed for the building. Thanks to the spectacular façade solution it will become a key pearl in the Ulemiste business district."

The office spaces of the building were designed with the flexibility in mind which means that office spaces can be restructured simply by moving separation walls and without the need to re-build technical systems. "Since the building has been designed and will be built in an environmentally friendly manner, while taking into account the wellbeing of employees, we will apply for the LEED certificate that is not very common in Estonia yet," added Jaano Vink.

The internationally recognized LEED certificate is issued to buildings that fulfil sustainable development and environmental conservation requirements in building design and construction as well as in building operation. LEED ranks building design and construction by six environmental categories: sustainable development on the construction site, water conservation, efficient energy use, choice of materials, quality of building's interior environment and design innovation. LEED will give buildings' owners and operators specific instructions on the building's design, construction, operation and maintenance.

According to the contract signed between Technopolis Ulemiste AS and Nordecon AS, the construction cost of the office building to be located at Lootsa 5 in Ulemiste City business district will be approximately 8.7 million euros. The office building will have 13 stories, will be 49.5 metres high from the ground level and will have approximately 11,000 square metres of closed net floor area. The due date for completion of construction works is August 2015.