For the three phases of The Bridge office complex, developed by Forte Partners in the Orhideea-Basarab area of Bucharest, PPAE was the developer’s technical architecture consultant. A class A complex, LEED Platinum certified, delivered in three stages between 2016 and 2020 — one of the largest office developments in the western part of the capital, leased to companies such as BCR, IBM, UPC, Schlumberger and Medicover.

Challenges

The Bridge was built in a formula where the technical design and the execution details were drawn up by the general contractor, starting from the authorised design. On a large, fast development with several successive phases, the risk of such a setup is the deviation — discreet but cumulative — between the approved design intent and what actually reaches execution: solutions, materials, details. The developer needed an independent architect’s eye to track this compliance throughout the works.

Solutions

PPAE checked, for the architecture discipline, the compliance of the technical design, the execution details, the proposed materials and equipment and the as-built documentation against the initial design and the client’s requirements. The role included weekly presence on site, approval of materials and equipment before installation, and verification of the fit-out documentation proposed by tenants. In essence, a quality-control and design-intent-assurance function, exercised in the developer’s interest throughout the execution.

Result

The three phases were delivered and fully leased, and the complex was acquired by the Dedeman group, in the largest real-estate transaction of the year on the Romanian market at the time. For PPAE, a confirmation of the value brought by the technical architecture consultant role on large, complex developments — a trust reconfirmed through repetition: Forte Partners contracted PPAE for the same type of role on the Matei Millo office building, in central Bucharest.

Are you developing a large office project and need an architecture consultant to defend your design intent throughout execution? The PPAE team can support your project from design to handover. Contact us