A look into Urban HUB, a commerce and logistics campus opening in Vilnius next year

SBA Urban, the real estate developer of the SBA Group, together with the Danish sustainable architecture developers PLH Architects, are launching Urban HUB Vilnius. This commerce campus will rise next to Ukmergės Street. The 22,000 sqm stock office project is planned to be completed by the end of next year. It will provide goods and service providers with retail, logistics and customer service facilities in one place. It will also include green spaces, catering facilities and electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

The architecture is exceptional in Lithuania and abroad

According to Giedrius Muliuolis, Head of Urban HUB, the company implementing the project at SBA Urban, the Vilnius project, will start to create a network of Urban HUBs in Lithuania, which will later be developed abroad.

“With this project, we aim to create a broader standard for the stock office segment in the market. Together with the world-renowned architectural firm PLH architects, we have developed a campus in Kaunas and applied the same principles to the Vilnius project. The conceptually unified spaces and cosy facade solutions will become our distinctive architectural signature in Lithuania and abroad. It is not only offices, exposition spaces and warehouses all in one but also a more convenient place to set up businesses, expand them and, if necessary, optimise in a measured way. The decision to create a network of Urban HUB projects will enable businesses that start up here to benefit from the advantages of the locations and, if necessary, expand to Urban HUBs in other cities. We believe that this synergy and flexibility will become an important advantage in the market,” says Giedrius Muliuolis, CEO of Urban HUB.

Construction of Urban HUB Vilnius is scheduled to start in early 2023, and the first land preparation works are already underway. The investment in the project is around EUR 30 million. It has a strong focus on sustainability: the green energy that will be used to power the building, infrastructure for a more sustainable lifestyle, green spaces, as well as the choice of materials and solutions for the project itself.

This project will be one of two to open in Lithuania in the coming years. Urban HUB is also developing a 67,000 sqm commerce campus in Kaunas, close to the A1 motorway, and is planning further expansion of the network abroad.

Premises tailored to the needs of each customer

Steen Enrico Andersen, a partner at PLH Architects, says that the main challenge for the architects in the Vilnius project was to maintain the continuity of the architecture of Urban HUB Kaunas in a smaller size and different location.

“Our creative and engineering task were to create a project where everyone feels comfortable, inspired and wants to come back if they are a customer or visitor. We have taken the best of the Urban HUB project already developed for Kaunas and put together a mix of shops, cafés, and other spaces that create a pleasant atmosphere and a great experience for the client,” shares S.E. Andersen.

The developers plan to apply the same architectural model to the entire Urban Hub  network.

“The Vilnius campus is one of the first steps in building this network. In Vilnius, customers will be able to rent 150 to 6,000 sqm of space and adapt it to their own needs – to connect it, to redesign it. The space system being developed here will also allow customers to have only the space they really need, so there will be plenty of room for cost optimisation, especially in these times of energy crisis and geopolitical turmoil. Also important for clients is the convenient, viable location next to one of the busiest streets in Vilnius, good visibility from the street, and the synergy of businesses emerging in the quarter. All this, we believe, will distinguish the Urban Hub Vilnius project from others and bring together a community of responsible and progressive businesses,” said Rasa Pečiulaitė, Head of Real Estate Development at Urban HUB.

According to the project developers, Urban HUB campuses are best suited for the companies seeking more innovative retail solutions, valuing the image and aesthetics created by such a workplace.