A strong working relationship was key to winning this flagship project.
As Martyna Topyła, Project Manager, explains, “Our team had built huge trust with the client and proved we had the necessary skills, even before the call for tender came.” The building owner, HB Reavis, had already assigned SPIE to manage other parts of the complex, Varso 1 and Varso 2, in 2019. “These contracts created awareness of our high-level services,” adds Martyna.
In total, 15 SPIE employees work on site for the Varso complex, including two technical managers, two team leaders, one specialist and nine technicians, with five of them assigned to the Varso Tower. Similar to other facilities management contracts they’ve handled, they take care of all of the building’s installations (HVAC, fire safety, electricity, etc.) with the exception of those that are still under guarantee from the contractors that installed them. In these cases, SPIE monitors this equipment and coordinates with the companies responsible for their maintenance, and handles risky problems that need immediate attention when called to do so. For Martyna, working on a skyscraper isn’t too dissimilar from working on any other building, except there is more work and responsibility. Even transporting materials can be tricky.
“ What’s different here is that this building is slender and tall. Every day we move vertically, not horizontally, and we have to do big work in relatively limited space.”
THE EU’S HIGHEST TOWER
In 2022, the Varso Tower became the highest skyscraper in the European Union. With 53 floors reaching up 310 m, the tower beats the previous record holder, Commerzbank Tower in Frankfurt, by 51 m. Slightly taller than The Shard in London, it is also the tallest building in Europe, outside Russia.
