NEW DESIGNERS SELECTED FOR KN ADMINISTRATIVE BUILDING

KN (AB “Klaipėda nafta”), the operator of oil products and liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals, has selected designers for the project of new administrative building in Klaipėda. The tender for the design of the administrative building announced by the company was won by the joint activity partners UAB “Eksploit” and the Latvian company “Nams”. It is estimated that the design of the building will be prepared in about a year’s time, and then, after the estimation of the cost of the planned construction works is accomplished, the decision on further project development will be adopted.
 
At present, KN employees work in two offices in Klaipėda. One of these offices is located at Burių street in Melnragė, next to the Klaipėda oil terminal managed by the company. As far as the other administrative premises are concerned, KN rents them from the Central Klaipėda terminal (CKT) in its administrative building.
 
 “Our current buildings at Burių street are old and do not meet our modern needs. Moreover, in order to improve the mutual communication between our employees, to simplify their cooperation and various administrative procedures, we seek that all Klaipėda employees have the possibility to work under one roof and that our old premises are adjusted for industrial activities,” says Mindaugas Jusius, KN CEO.
 
According to him, before adopting the decision to construct a new office building, the company considered several alternatives. The first alternative was to reconstruct and expand the old administrative building at Burių street, however, bearing in mind the amortisation coefficient of the building constructed in 1959, the idea of its restoration was rejected as not economically viable.
 
Another alternative was to rent a new office building in Klaipėda. This option was rejected, because no administrative building meeting the company’s needs was found in the market.
 
“By evaluating the 25 years’ period, we compared the alternatives of renting or constructing a new building necessary for KN employees and their current net value. The performed analysis revealed that the current net value is more favourable with regard to the construction of a new building. It is expected that the construction of a new building will reduce the operational costs by more than 6 times if compared to the decision to rent a building. Having regard to the above, we decided to construct a new administrative building of our own”, claims Mr. Jusius.
According to the head of KN, construction of the company’s own building was a decision, which was the object of long discussions and analyses. 1.5 years ago, KN ordered a feasibility study of pre-design solutions of the construction design of the building, which analysed three architectural variants. The most suitable architectural concept was selected, and based on this concept, the public tender for territory planning and building design works was announced. There were six participants in the tender. All of them met the criteria specified in the procurement terms and conditions, with the key of them being the cost of services and the competence of designers.
 
The 145 thousand euros worth tender for the design of the administrative building announced by the company was won by the joint activity partners UAB “Eksploit” and the Latvian company “Nams”. The company signed an agreement on the provision of design services with the above two companies. The provision of services is divided into two stages. The first stage will involve the preparation of the technical design including the territory planning and the receipt of the authorisation to perform the construction works. The designers of the second stage will have to draft the project and to provide the project implementation services.
 
After about a year, when the draft project is prepared and the assessment of the suitability of cost of the construction is performed, KN is planning to announce the tender for the construction contractor or developer. The company will search for the developer, who will construct the building and rent it to the company. 
 
The new building will be built in the place of the old gym located at Burių street. The land on which this gym is located and the surrounding territory are located within the reserve territory of the port and belong to the state. KN has concluded an agreement on the rent of this land parcel with the State Enterprise Klaipėda State Seaport Administration, which manages this land on behalf of the state.
 
It is planned that the future KN administrative building will resemble the form and the scale of the nearby cylinder containers for the storage of oil products. Next to the round four-storey building, it is planned to construct a parking lot for 150 cars. The future building of about 2.500 sq. m. will be able to accommodate 150 employees.