Kimmel Quarter
Amenities
Kimmel quarter - A level office building, offering most essential urban amenities, such as, conference centre, gastronomy area, fitness centres, hotels, kindergartens, etc. The quarter will comprise 50 700 square meters of office space. The floorplates have been tested to suit the needs of different tenants with a variety of diverse office fit. Conference centre will be able to host up to 300 participants, which is more than any business centre in Riga can provide. And many more amenities that will provide the necessary convenience for the office workers as well as outside visitors.
Having an unflinching sustainability strategy with BREEAM as the driving force, Kimmel Quarter has the potential to become an example for future development of the city of Riga.
Kimmel Quarter
History
Brewery Kimmel was established in 1815 in Old Riga as small, local brewery. In 1850 the brewery moved to Bruņinieku street where new factory building was built. This brewery was the first steam powered brewery in Riga. In 1920-1930 the factory occupied the whole quarter. The brewery worked until 2002, when it was moved out of Riga center. Few years later the company went bankrupt. In 2005 architectural competition was carried out for development of this area. German company Benisch&Partner won the competition, but technical project was not developed.
Kimmel Quarter
Current Situation
The Kimmel Quarter occupies almost an entire city block of Riga's Central District and takes its name from the Brewery Kimmel, a beer manufacturer that operated here since the 1800s that in its wake left an industrial complex filled with buildings that, while now mostly abandoned, are rich with history. At the moment, majority of the buildings in Kimmel are empty, unused, in bad or extremely bad technical condition. Some of them are used as cafés and during the summertime attract many visitors, making the quarter inhabited and lively. Every week different day time festivals and outdoor movie nights take place in Kimmel Quarter.
Kimmel Quarter
Location
Property is located in the city center of Riga. Property makes up almost whole block and is verged by three streets – Kr. Valdemāra, Bruņinieku and Stabu. Property is easily accessible both by private and public transport. Nearby are located several schools, theater and many residential and office buildings. Property consists of land plot with total area of 11 533 m² and several old factory (brewery) buildings built in years 1850-1910. Some of the buildings are with historical heritage value and therefore need to be preserved, but other buildings can be demolished and rebuilt.
Kimmel Quarter
Further development
The architectural competition launched in October 2017 has successfully ended and two of the best projects have been chosen for further discussions and negotiations.
The brief strategic vision is to create an integrated innovative mix-use hub in Riga, creating a new class of office and the future benchmark for the office typology in the region. Beside the new built intervention, the site itself is one of the most interesting and unique opportunity to engage with historical and industrial heritage of the city, where the new and the old merge together in a unique coherent and elegant solution.