The new NARBUTAS Vilnius office in the Meraki business centre is also a live exhibition space (showroom). It showcases a huge range of standard NARBUTAS products and spectacular non-standard solutions – recessed furniture, wardrobes, coffee stations, kitchen furniture, wall hangings, ceiling decor, etc.
The project management and technical maintenance was handled by the Viconus team, that ensured a smooth and faster than planned office installation.
“Every week we welcome guests – clients, architects and designers from all over the world. Therefore, it was very important to demonstrate the functionality of NARBUTAS furniture and its adaptability to different working environments in real everyday situations in the office,” says Gabrielė Vaitonytė-Galdikienė, Marketing Manager of NARBUTAS International.
NARBUTAS Vilnius office moved to the Meraki Business House on the eve of the new year. The new 2,863 sq. m space accommodates around 350 people across four floors.
“Sustainability is one of NARBUTAS’ strategic goals, and we were impressed by Meraki’s BREEAM certification, which certifies that the building has been designed and constructed in accordance with the highest international standards for sustainability and energy efficiency. The use of green energy and the 27 charging points for electric vehicles – the majority of our fleet is made up of electric vehicles – also had a positive impact on our decision to choose this business centre,” says Vaitonytė-Galdikienė.
Significant investment in staff welfare
The office concept is based on a hybrid working model, so it was important to adapt the space to the different types of work.
“We are an international company that creates office furniture, follows and dictates office trends, and we strive to create the best possible conditions for our employees to work and rest,” emphasises G. Vaitonytė-Galdikienė.
The office has a comfortable and ergonomic working environment. All workstations are equipped with height-adjustable desks and ergonomic chairs to ensure comfort and correct posture. All the spaces have plenty of natural light and plants, interior colors that have a positive effect on emotional well-being and productivity, and a strong focus on acoustics.
Exposition function and sustainability
The entire office also acts as a living exhibition (showroom).
“The furniture solutions in the office reflect the mix & match concept – different pieces of furniture are combined with each other based on aesthetics, functionality and ergonomics. The office space has been designed to combine furniture collections, colors and materials to demonstrate how the products adapt to different working styles and environmental needs. In this way, the office becomes a comfortable working space and inspires architects and interior designers,” explains G. Vaitonytė-Galdikienė.
According to the marketing manager of NARBUTAS, it is also a sustainability exposition – recycled materials are widely used in the interior. PET felt made from recycled plastic bottles has been chosen for the wall panels and ceiling decor, while durable, easy-care materials that reduce resource use have been used for the upholstery.
Fields of activity
NARBUTAS International is an international office furniture company with a factory in Ukmergė, exporting 96% of its production to 60 countries, mainly the UK, France, Germany and the USA. There are 12 showrooms around the world, the latest in London, Düsseldorf, Munich and Warsaw. A 13th showroom is scheduled to open soon in Washington DC.
NARBUTAS is represented in Lithuania by NARBUTAS Lietuva. It was this team that coordinated the design of the new office, acting as an intermediary between the client and the architects.
A vision of possibilities
“The NARBUTAS Lietuva team was responsible not only for the selection of the furniture, but also for its smooth installation and coordination of various technical aspects – from plumbing and lighting to plant integration,” says Donatas Girinskis, Head of Sales at NARBUTAS Lietuva.
The designers applied the latest and most popular furniture collections to the office-exhibition concept. The workplaces feature ergonomic desks from the ACTIVE, B-ACTIVE and MOTION collections, as well as WIND, SURF and D-CHAIR chairs. In the meeting areas, PARTHOS desks with acoustic function have been selected. In the lounge areas, SANDIE and SOFT ROCK sofas and ZOOZOO coffee tables. The open-plan office is divided by COMBUS shelving, while SONUS and SILENT ROOM acoustic booths provide privacy. ACOUSTIC ARTWORK elements are used in all spaces to improve acoustics and accentuate the style of the interior.
“The majority of the furniture is made up of the standard NARBUTAS collections, but some of the furniture is modified with non-standard dimensions or materials to ensure harmonious integration into the space. ACOUSTIC ARTWORK products have been especially adapted – specially designed and manufactured PET felt light fittings, acoustic ceiling coverings and partitions with unique shapes and patterns,” says Girinskis.
He highlights the “coffee points” on all four floors and the large kitchen area, designed to accommodate most of the staff at the same time, as completely out of the box solutions.
“All the furniture solutions in the office are from NARBUTAS’ extensive range, designed to furnish the office from A to Z. The biggest advantage of choosing furniture from a single manufacturer is the consistent quality and seamless style, which allows to create a cohesive, functional and aesthetic space,” emphasises D. Girinskis.
According to him, from the first conversations about the decision to change the location of the office to the full move-in, it took only seven months – a remarkable achievement to create and implement an office project of almost 3000 sq. m in such a non-standard timeframe.
Exceptionally free creative process
“By designing an interior using only NARBUTAS products, we have not only deepened our understanding of the product range, but also expanded our creative possibilities. We personalised the standard collections by changing sizes, materials and colour combinations. NARBUTAS made it easy to implement non-standard solutions as well, so we felt extremely free in the creative process,” says AIAI architects, the interior designers of the new NARBUTAS office.
The colours of the office were inspired by the new NARBUTAS collection of fabrics and materials.
“We explored the emotional impact of colour. For each floor, we chose a palette of dominant colours with warm, earthy tones, creating a cosy and calm atmosphere and a sustainable working environment. We also used color to highlight the features and possibilities of each NARBUTAS product,” say the interior architects.
The interior is dominated by tones of moss green and terracotta. Each floor plays with the relationship between this palette and a complementary colour. The colour scenarios are created by using furniture as both a visual backdrop and a “sounding” accent. PET felt was used extensively, both for its acoustic properties and for its aesthetic and plastic potential.
“Our team’s mission was to create flexible workspaces that meet the needs of different departments: open-plan and quiet areas, variable workstations – so that employees can choose how and where they work,” says the architects, who identified the main requirement of the clients.
To strengthen team bonds, collaborative spaces with various types of meeting rooms, inspiring idea-generating and informal lounge areas were created to encourage creation and communication.
“NARBUTAS is one of the most successful and globally renowned Lithuanian companies, so it was a great honour and responsibility to design its office. This project is special not only because of its scope, but also because of the duration of the project. From the idea to the complete installation took about six months. We are pleased that the project was a pleasant and smooth process with the NARBUTAS team,” says AIAI architects, the office interior designers.
The office is furnished with precision and modernity
The general management, functionality and aesthetics of the premises, as well as the decoration and furnishing of the premises according to the company’s needs, were entrusted to UAB Invus, which has been providing full fit-out and decoration services for the premises of the widest possible range of purposes for the past decade. The company, which has built up a team of professionals who always ensure high quality and aesthetics, is also renowned as a reliable general contractor, guaranteeing a smooth work process and quality results. “Invus is ISO 14001:2015 certified, which demonstrates the company’s commitment to protecting the environment and contributing to sustainable development.
“We are proud of our motivated and qualified team, which is constantly improving its skills and seeking new knowledge. It is thanks to such employees that Invus surpasses many similar companies in terms of the range of services provided, high quality standards and sustainability principles,” says Edgaras Kačinskas, Invus Construction Manager, who managed the installation of NARBUTAS office.
According to him, the NARBUTAS office project is unique because of its abundance of innovation and atypical design solutions. The client, renowned for its high quality products, applied the same quality standards to the furnishing and decoration of its office: everything had to be done with precision and modernity, using eco-friendly materials and environmentally friendly solutions. The interior design incorporates many modern and innovative solutions, creating a contemporary working environment that ensures the comfort of the employees and encourages their creativity and productivity.
NARBUTAS, which applies digitalisation and optimisation in its production processes, has made it a requirement to apply advanced technological solutions to the office design.
“Our company can analyse existing processes, identify gaps and implement improvement measures to use resources efficiently. This had a significant impact on the design and installation of the office’s engineering systems,” emphasises Kačinskas, adding, “Installing engineering systems that meet NARBUTAS’s high standards of quality and sustainability in a building that was already in operation was both a challenging and exciting task.”
Elegantly balanced sunlight
DEXTERA has also contributed to the comfortable environment of NARBUTAS Vilnius office. The windows of the working areas and the reception area are covered with the Absolute roller shutter system supplied by the Dutch manufacturer Coulisse as its official representative. The system is like an individual jigsaw puzzle: the size of the products can be manipulated and the design can be kept uniform.
The customer chose a classic soft grey screen type fabric with a light transmission of 1% to give the office an elegant, modern look. This type of fabric perfectly captures even the most intense sunlight and ensures a working microclimate in the premises, helping to avoid reflections on computer screens. In terms of the amount of sunlight and its penetration into the horizon during the summer, this type of fabric is probably the best choice for office buildings in our geographical area.
One of the advantages of the Absolute roller shutter system is the small light gaps between roller shutters hung side by side. In addition, it can be easily integrated into a recess. If the customer’s needs change, these manual systems can be easily converted to electrically operated systems, solar sensors can be installed and the entire indoor sun protection can be entrusted to smart systems without changing the fixing points and product dimensions.
DEXTERA, a market leader for almost 30 years, is renowned for its ability to meet the individual expectations of each client and the specific needs of each project, combining functionality and aesthetics. The company always strives to offer only high quality, innovative solutions, which is why it is gaining the trust of more and more new customers and more and more regular clients and partners. Professionalism and reliability are two of the main reasons why DEXTERA is chosen by the country’s major companies for their projects.
OBJECT: “NARBUTAS International Vilnius office, Eitminų str. 3
CLIENT: UAB NARBUTAS International
GENERAL CONTRACTOR: “Invus”
INTERIOR ARCHITECTS: “AIAI architects” – architects Aistė Gudelienė, Žygimantas Gudelis, Rusnė Griškutė
DESIGNERS (FURNITURE): “NARBUTAS Lietuva” – designers Elzė Trinkūnaitė, Neringa Dervinytė
