Bonarka For Business leads office design into the future

Located in close vicinity to Bonarka City Center, a popular shopping and entertainment hub in Kraków, Poland, you can find Bonarka for Business (B4B). This award-winning office park consists of 10 innovative buildings. One of them, ‘Building F’ of the Bonarka for Business (B4B) development, is cladded with Rockpanel Woods.

Bonarka For Business (B4B) Building F

The eight-storey Building F is designed as an open plan concept, characterized by an abundance of natural light. Concentrated in the center of the floor plan is a vertical circulation core that consists of a lift, cased exit stairs, service shafts, restrooms, utility rooms and staff lounges. This centralization leaves the surrounding floor area free. This large space can be subdivided into offices for one, two, three or four tenants – with smaller divisions also possible.

Freedom in façade design in open plan concept

In addition to affording maximum spatial flexibility, a particular benefit of an open plan concept such as this is the freedom provided in terms of façade design. The north and south façades of the building are clad with a mullion and transom glazed façade system that floods the building interior with
natural light.

Rockpanel Woods: warm appearance for office facade

For the eastern and western façades, the architects were looking for a durable and low-maintenance material suitable for a large area that could offset the coolness of glass with the appearance of natural wood. Project architect Malgorzata Dworzak-Bobula found the perfect solution in Rockpanel façade cladding, as these panels have a high-quality appearance and are resistant against environmental elements. The architect adds: “We needed to attach the façade cladding mechanically and for use in a tall building (30m) it couldn't be too heavy. This product was perfect. The supplier provided us full and efficient information regarding these products and their specification. We also had access to a wide range of samples, which we could use to see which would work best in combination with all the other materials we were using.”

Rockpanel Woods Rhinestone Oak

Ultimately, the Rhinestone Oak design from the Rockpanel Woods range was selected. In addition to achieving the desired aesthetic appearance, this product was a particularly suitable choice in terms of meeting Polish fire regulations, which require firesafe building materials compliant with Euroclass A2 in building areas located more than 25 meters above ground level.

Environmentally friendly façade solution

In addition to achieving a high-quality and high-performance façade, the architect adds that by selecting Rockpanel boards, they were able to achieve an environmentally friendly façade solution as part of meeting the requirements for achieving a ‘very good’ BREEAM certificate standard. On the basis of a Life Cycle Assessment, Rockpanel boards are acknowledged by BRE Global as amongst the best performing in their category with A+ and A ratings.

Award-winning office park in Kraków

Since B4B broke ground in 2011 as a development, it has won a number of competitions including the 'Kraków – My Home 2014’ and the ‘artURBANICA 2012 Quality Award’ in the architecture of urban space category. B4B has additionally won the ‘Prime Property Prize Malopolska 2013’ in the office building category for meeting the needs of the most demanding clients.

The architecture of the B4B project not only sets a leading example technically and functionally in terms of office design for the 21st century, but also raises the bar with respect to its aesthetic design and quality in material product specification. For a nation eager to emerge as a leading place to do business, office design at B4B is certainly helping to put Kraków on the map.