In March of this year, large-scale work on the technically demanding shopping centre expansion project, which lasted three years, was completed. Skonto Būve managed both the design and construction of the shopping centre. Within the framework of the project, a new commercial and office building was built, the total area of which exceeds 45 thousand square metres.

One of the biggest challenges in this project is the location of the building. The construction of the project took place in very difficult conditions from the engineering point of view. The shopping centre is located not only in the busiest part of the city, but also next to the railway station, the construction of which should not have been hampered. The second challenge was to supply the site with construction materials. During the whole project, very careful planning work was carried out so that in the limited area, construction material would be regularly delivered only in the most necessary amount.

The facade of the building is made of titanium zinc, brick masonry and glazing. An innovative solution is the atrium cover used for the first time in the Baltics, which is made of a light-permeable membrane. This solution ensures that daylight enters the huge construction volume of the building. The frame of the building itself is made of prefabricated reinforced concrete, which was designed and manufactured by Skonto Prefab, a Skonto Group company. The company has so far been recognised with significant projects abroad, therefore it is especially important to mention that Skonto Prefab has, for the first time, produced such a large-scale production of precast reinforced concrete for a local project. The project hides the inner atriums with the feeling of a city garden from the eyes of passers-by. Several terraces were created that cannot be seen from the street, but which will delight the tenants of the office premises in the future.

Now, the new Origo business centre has an underground car park for 130 cars and 70 bicycles. There is retail space on the first three floors, while from the fourth to the sixth floor there is an area of 11,500 square meters for office space. It should be noted that Origo is an energy-efficient building that is friendly to nature and people, according to the BREEAM (British Research Establishment Environmental Assessment Method) certification for sustainable buildings.