The recently opened Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) headquarters for Doosan Bobcat in Dobris in the Czech Republic has won the ‘Healthiest Office’ Award in the CBRE Art of Space Awards.
While the award was given in the ‘Healthy Environment and Sustainability’ category, Doosan Bobcat was also among the finalists in two other categories – ‘Workspace Design – Industrial’ and ‘The Most Attractive Meeting Point’. The CBRE Art of Space Awards saw 250 candidates competing for victory in six main categories across the entire spectrum of commercial real estate.
According to a statement from Doosan Bobcat, the $11.2m three-storey, Doosan Bobcat EMEA headquarters building covers an area of 1561sqm and offers more than 3370sqm of usable office space for 200 employees. In addition, there are sufficient parking spaces, including charging stations for electric cars. Investments were also made in the construction of green areas covering an area of more than 7000sqm.
Doosan Bobcat said the headquarters building was built last year on the company’s campus in Dobris and is the centre of operations for the EMEA region as well as housing the Doosan Bobcat management. The new headquarters sits alongside the Dobris manufacturing plant and the company’s Training and Innovation Center at the campus, where compact construction, agricultural and other Bobcat machines are produced for the EMEA region and the rest of the world.
The Doosan Bobcat official responsible for construction of the new headquarters, Sebastien Millet, vice president, Procurement, for EMEA, said: “Thanks to our win in this key category, we can be rightfully proud of one of the healthiest work environments. With the new headquarters in Dobris, we have completed an investment which, thanks to the concentration of development, production and management of the company in one place, is of socio-economic importance for the entire region and is exceptional within our field.
“Over time, we have invested approximately $134.3m in Doosan Bobcat’s operations in the Czech Republic, and the current CBRE Art of Space Award provides more proof that we have set out on the right path.”
The experts deciding the winners evaluated the new building as follows: “In its new headquarters in Dobris, Doosan Bobcat EMEA has included many materials that are typical of the industries in which it works, such as metal, concrete, straw and stone. Among other things, the company has emphasized room acoustics, proper daylight and greenery.”
The ‘Healthy Environment and Sustainability’ category was decided through the assessment of experts from the Czech Green Building Council, who judged this part of the competition and performed an audit of the internal environment for the submitted projects.
Simona Kalvoda, executive director of the Czech Green Building Council, said: “Compared to previous years, it can be seen that the number of interiors that work with the first-rate design wow effect is decreasing, and the number of high-quality, conceptually designed spaces is increasing.
“The proof is there in this year’s winner, which received the highest rating from the jury for the spatial concept and good air quality. The offices were well regulated in terms of CO2 concentrations and air humidity, which is still not a matter of course in many designs. At the same time, the jury highlighted the intensive incorporation of greenery into the office concept.”
