The demand for high-end office spaces in Riga is rapidly growing, as evidenced by the nominees in this year’s architecture awards, where office building projects dominate. One of these standout projects is the GUSTAVS business centre, which was named the winner in the “Best New Public Building” category at the “Best Building of the Year in Latvia” competition, and is now home to a key tenant— SEB Global Services.
The developer behind the GUSTAVS office centre project is the Lithuanian real estate company, Galio Group, which is a subsidiary of “Vilniaus Prekyba,” the largest retail group in the Baltics, known for brands such as Maxima, Barbora, and Akropole. Interestingly, the paths of BLV Advisory Group and the developers had crossed before, during the Akropole Riga project, where BLV provided construction supervision services. BLV Advisory Group won the tender to provide supervision for this project as well—Galio Group’s first in Latvia.
The GUSTAVS office centre is being developed in three phases, with the first phase already completed, and plans for the next phases are underway. According to BLV Advisory Group’s Technical Director, Artūrs Ščurs, beyond the striking architecture and thoughtful interior design, the project is distinguished by its technical solutions. For example, the inclusion of two underground floors is a unique approach that is not often seen in Latvia.
”This type of solution is not typical, as creating the foundation requires working at much deeper levels, which demands a special approach to project organization and technology. This approach was chosen to ensure the comfort of the office building’s users by providing adequate parking capacity, while avoiding overloading the surrounding area with parked cars.
Artūrs ŠčursTechnical Director of BLV Advisory Group
Just a few years ago, there was frequent discussion about how the supply of high-end office spaces in Riga lagged behind neighboring countries. However, as Kaspars Beitiņš, a member of the board at Galio Development, explains, the situation has changed. “Market data shows that the share of newly built office spaces has significantly increased in recent years. Along with tenants moving into new office spaces, activity in the rental market has also grown. However, a few years ago, there was a time when the selection of newly built high-end offices was limited. Over the past year and a half, several new projects have launched, and the modern GUSTAVS office building is one of them,” he explains.
SEB Global Services is the anchor tenant of the building, while spaces have also been leased to iLunch and Prenta. “When a tenant comes to us, the collaboration during the space customization process is always close-knit. It’s especially productive when communication flows smoothly, allowing us to discuss details and make necessary adjustments quickly,” Beitiņš says.
”Our collaboration with SEB Global Services, other tenants, and partners such as BLV Advisory Group has been highly successful, and this is recognized by industry professionals. It is also worth noting that GUSTAVS is the first building in Latvia to receive the ‘BREEAM Excellent Fully Fitted’ certification, confirming the building’s sustainability. And of course, winning the ‘Best New Public Building’ award at the ‘Best Building of the Year in Latvia’ competition was particularly significant.
Kaspars BeitiņšMember of the Board of Galio Development
Artūrs Ščurs of BLV Advisory Group emphasizes that the approach to the construction process played a key role in the building’s recognition at award ceremonies. “I believe people were deeply inspired by the final result of the project—the overall internal infrastructure and how the work was organized,” he says, adding that the project stands out from others. “If our projects evoke emotions in people, it means that part of those emotions comes from the time and effort we’ve invested,” Ščurs says.
Normunds Grinbergs, Chairman of the Jury at the “Best Building of the Year in Latvia” competition and Head of the Latvian Builders Association, explains that the evaluation process is carried out in two stages. First, the building is visited in person, followed by a detailed project presentation, and only after thoroughly evaluating all criteria is the final decision made.
”For each category, the competition has precisely defined criteria by which the building is judged. Our expert panel consists of various professionals involved in construction—builders, engineers, architects, construction supervisors, designers, and more. Each evaluator may have their own perspective on each criterion. However, in this competition, these subjective evaluations are combined to create an objective assessment.
Normunds GrinbergsChairman of the Jury for the competition "Best Building of the Year in Latvia", Head of the Latvian Builders Association
“This approach, which we’ve practiced for many years, has proven effective. Truly outstanding buildings receive higher scores. Our goal is to highlight the excellent work that engineers, architects, and designers have accomplished together,” Grinbergs adds.
The total area of the GUSTAVS office centre is approximately 20,700 square meters, with SEB Global Services occupying around 11,000 square meters. The building offers high levels of comfort for its employees, and features such as quiet rooms, playrooms where parents can work alongside their children, a rooftop terrace, and a gym. Decisions regarding what spaces to include were made during the construction process, with SEB representatives directly involved, working alongside consultants and architects to design the layout.
”Our goal was to create one of the most modern, inspiring, and sustainable offices in Riga. During the creation of our new office, we experienced a global pandemic, which set new standards for remote work worldwide and significantly changed the role of offices in everyday business. From the outset, we understood that the new office needed to become a magnet that attracts and motivates colleagues to spend their days in the office rather than at home.
Aļesja KirčenkoDeputy Head of SEB Global Services in Riga
“When choosing our new office, we focused on its scale to ensure that it could accommodate all of our more than 1,200 employees. Our daily work involves providing a variety of business services to SEB Group companies in 20 countries, and we don’t interact with Latvian clients on a daily basis. Therefore, it wasn’t important for the new office to be located in the city centre for client convenience, but rather to be easily accessible for our colleagues—whether by public transport, bicycle, or car,” she explains.
The developers of the project note that the construction of the remaining phases of the office quarter will depend directly on market conditions in the coming years. However, the completion of the first phase of the GUSTAVS office centre has already added significant value to the New Teika district and Riga as a whole.
“This project not only sets new standards for premium office spaces in Latvia but also demonstrates our and our partners’ ability to create an environment that combines sustainability, modern technical solutions, and comfort. To accomplish projects like GUSTAVS, capital is necessary. But capital doesn’t just mean money—you can’t buy emotions with money, and without emotions, the result simply isn’t possible. Capital is also the energy we invest in every project, and in this case, all that energy has certainly paid off,” concludes Artūrs Ščurs.
