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Repeated procurement has been concluded for the establishment of the prototyping workshop “Riga Makerspace”

27.01.2022
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In the repeatedly announced construction procurement of SJSC State Real Estate (SRE) for the establishment of a prototyping workshop “Riga Makerspace” at A. Briāna iela 13, Riga, in the competition of 9 construction contractors, the tender of the supplier association “BBA, TILTS, PMK” for 7.4 million euros was recognised as the most economically advantageous. If there are no appeals, SRE will enter into an agreement with the entrepreneur and construction works will commence in the coming months,” informs Renārs Griškevičs, Chairman of the Board of SRE.

In the first procurement, 11 construction companies applied for the right to establish a prototyping workshop “Riga Makerspace”. The potential agreement amount was 6.37 million euros. Whereas, 9 construction companies applied in the repeated procurement, 4 of which had also applied in the first procurement. The new agreement amount is 7.4 million euros (excluding VAT), submitted by the suppliers' association “BBA, TILTS, PMK”, which had also submitted a tender in the first procurement.

“Last year's unexpectedly sharp rise in raw material prices posed challenges for all participants in the construction process. We, as customers, have also been affected by the rapid rise in prices. Construction costs continue to rise and energy costs are also growing rapidly, as a result of which construction companies are already submitting estimates for a larger total amount. Last year, we already foresaw such a possibility, therefore we attracted additional funding for the implementation of the project and the total project costs are still in line with the allocated budget,” points out Griškevičs.

The former Riga Light Industry Technical School building at A. Briāna iela 13, Riga, will be adapted to the needs of a total of six Riga Secondary School of Design and Art and Latvian Academy of Arts educational programmes, creating appropriate new product sample production or prototyping workshops, which will ensure a high-quality and competitive learning process for pupils and students. In addition, modern rooms for seminars and other events will be set up. You can find out more about the project in the video story of our series “Buildings and Legends”: https://youtu.be/0uL2e0pYQuE.

Buildings renovated within the framework of the project, are located near the UNESCO World Cultural and Natural Heritage Site “Historic Centre of Riga”. One of the buildings for which we will provide new development opportunities within the project is of historical value, thus we will continue to take care of the preservation of cultural and historical heritage, upgrade public space in the area of 1,500 m2 and renovate public buildings in the area of 3,600 m2, as well as take energy efficiency increasing measures. For the full implementation of the project, all interested parties can now apply for the procurement of prototyping workshop equipment, which will provide an opportunity for the visitors to create new and innovative products.

For the implementation of the prototyping workshop “Riga Makerspace” development project, the Ministry of Culture has attracted funding from the European Union funds Operational Programme “Growth and Employment” 5.6.1 of the specific support objective “To promote the revitalisation of the city of Riga, ensuring the efficient socio-economic use of the territory” and 4.2.1 of the specific support objective “To promote the increase of energy efficiency in public and residential buildings” 4.2.1.2 of the first round of project application selection for the measure “Promoting energy efficiency in public buildings”, as well as state budget funds (including Covid-19 funding for stimulating the economy through investments in construction).

At the same time as the creation of a prototyping complex with the support of the ERDF, SRE is implementing the creation of two more creative quarters. On the adjacent Miera iela, the 1st stage of the future Tobacco Factory Quarter will be developed for the needs of the Latvian Academy of Culture and Creative Industries Business Incubator, while in the area of Šķirotava at Meirānu iela 2 there will be cultural premises and a performing arts decoration workshop complex of SLLC ‘Latvian National Opera and Ballet’. It is planned to already hand over the construction in three quarters in the surroundings of Riga to the public for creative development purposes in the autumn of 2023.

SRE currently continues works on 54 different construction sites of national importance, with a total project budget of 223 million euros. SRE provides professional real estate management and administration for approximately 400 real estate properties with 1100 buildings and 1.02 million square metres of space and more than 3600 land properties of 9.6 million square metres. The company was founded in 1996 and is 100% owned by the Ministry of Finance.