V.Offices by AFI Europe is a modern and environmentally friendly office building in Krakow, Poland. Located in a former industrial area of Kraków, it offers 24,700 m² of workspace for rent. While the ground floor provides commercial premises and a restaurant, the five upper floors are exclusively offices. In addition, a hall and a public patio with a green space serve as public areas available for use by all workers. While the modern V-shaped architecture provides an elegant and comfortable work environment for its users, the real game-changing nature of the iconic building lies in its cutting-edge emphasis on sustainability.
The newly constructed office building delivers the highest standards in terms of ecology, ergonomics, and wellbeing. With a BREEAM score of 98.87 %, V.Offices is Poland’s most efficient office building and one of the most sustainable offices worldwide. Regarding the BREEAM International building classification, it is the second-highest-ranked office building in the world. Its outstanding score was achieved using the latest technology in light management and state-of-the-art luminaires by TRILUX.
As a single-source provider, TRILUX contributed to the building’s green performance by providing 1,540 indoor and outdoor luminaires.
Building an exceptionally efficient and sustainable building was declared the investor’s goal from the beginning of the project. BREEAM takes energy efficiency into account, but it also considers aspects like light pollution and visual comfort; therefore, choosing the right luminaires and lighting solutions was crucial for achieving a top score.
BREEAM International Assessor Dominik Włodarczyk summarises, “a lighting system must be considered in terms of its impact on people and on the environment. These two aspects mustn’t be overlooked in the search for the best solutions.”
The planning team’s choice for TRILUX, therefore, was made quickly. In addition to the extensive portfolio, which allows an entire building to be equipped with luminaires from one source, the luminaires’ design, quality, and high efficiency were the main reasons to trust TRILUX.
Installer Jerzy Trześniowski points out, “TRILUX luminaires have a very good light spectrum. They give the impression of ‘soft light.’ This is how you can tell a good luminaire from a bad one.”
The reliable availability of solutions, five-year warranty, and the fact that the products are made in Europe contributed to the decision for TRILUX.
For a BREEAM score as high as 98.87 %, all aspects of the building must be optimised to a maximum. In terms of lighting, this means using the most energy-efficient luminaires and making sure that they are only turned on when necessary. Therefore, lighting control in the common areas is based on DALI modules linked to movement detectors. The outdoor lighting relies on dusk sensors reducing light pollution to a minimum.
Architect Andrzej Gacek illustrates how deep the integration of the lighting systems into the building’s outstanding efficiency is. “Lighting has been integrated with solenoid valves in the toilets. If there is no lighting, the water supply is cut off.”