The office space market in Nigeria has, in the past five to 10 years, witnessed what could be termed a ‘revolution’ with many office towers scrambling for the skyline of the country’s major cities, especially Lagos, whose property market has, within this period, received over 2,000 square metres office space.
This ‘revolution’ could be interpreted to mean space suppliers response to demand for Grade A office buildings with international standard which are sought after by foreign institutional and equity investors, corporate organizations, international oil companies, etc who are major players in the economy before the present downturn.
These developments which have changed Lagos skyline in Ikoyi and Victoria Island, have brought the city in league with the world’s leading cities which provide occupiers with premium Grade ‘A’ office accommodation as seen in New York, London, Paris, Johannesburg, Singapore and Hong Kong.
Some of the developments in Lagos are The Wings Towers which came into the market with 27,500 square metres, Nestoil Tower, 7,500 square metres, Madina Tower, 8,300 square metres and Civic Towers, 8,096 square metres, all in Victoria Island.
In Ikoyi, particularly on Kingsway Road, are The Heritage Place which came into the market with 15,631 square metres and Alliance Place, 6,670 square metres. Others are the Kingsway Tower, 12,000 square metres, Temple Tower, 14,000 square metres, BAT’s Rising Sun, 10,000 square metres, and Lake Point Towers, 13,400 square metres.
Among the pack, The Wings Towers, a twin-tower building developed by RMB Westport with Broll Nigeria, Estate Links Limited and Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) as lead promoters/leasing agents, stands out with its build quality and superior, fascinating façade system.
A 14-floor, 27,000 square metre Grade A office complex, The Wings is located on Ozumba Mbadiwe Street in Victoria Island by the Five Cowrie Creek. Wallace Wilkins, a director at RMB Westport , describes the building as “one-of-a-kind development that guarantees its tenants world class experience”.
“It is an elegantly designed office building with innovative usage of space to give optimal day-to-day functionality. The building is a seamless business environment that combines functionality, detail, services and comfort for business”, Wilkins added.
In addition to its high-quality finishing and small office plates of 1000 square metres which features 360-degree views to virtually all workstations in any particular tenant layout, The Wings façade gives an alluring feature view of the Lagos city, offering comfort plus quality of work that is comparable to international standards.
“This façade system allows for energy efficiency and adaptability to climatic heat conditions”, explained an official of Stauch Vorster Architects—the architectural consultants that worked on the building. One of the towers is already occupied by Oando Oil, RMB’s development partner. The remaining tower is substantially occupied by other tenants including RMB, JILL, MAN-Diesel, etc.
Offices in this building are climatically controlled to facilitate maximum comfort with lighting and visual stimulus aimed at enhancing tenant enjoyment and appreciation of the working environment. The building also offers a high level of security and comfort to businesses with a high priority on secure operating facilities and peace of mind.
The building has capacity to improve tenant’s operational efficiency and boost employee productivity. “It is a work environment that is a pleasure to use and interact with on a daily basis, and this will result in better productivity and positive attitude. This building is iconic and easily recognizable, creating an association tenants can market and use to their advantage”, the tauch Vorster official noted.
For purposes of security and safety, The Wings has intelligent building management systems (IBMS) which is a system that optimizes the centralized control of heating, ventilation, air conditioning and lighting, thus promoting its functionality. The IBMS is also designed to detect potential thieves as warning signals is triggered if there are any irregularities from particular areas of the building and these features make it an IBMS-compliant building.
The Wings is fully sprinkler protected with sprinkler and firewater systems supplied via dedicated pumps and tanks. Each tower is provided with two pressurized emergency routes and a fireman’s lift, together with an analogue smoke detection and voice evacuation system. Separate digital pulse meters are provided to measure individual tenant’s electricity consumption. These digital meters are extremely accurate with negligible errors. Independent meters are provided for every floor and every tenant, in the unlikely event of meter failure.
There are arguments out there on the suitability of its location given the intractable traffic gridlock that Ozumba Mbadiwe Street is known for, but Gbenga Olaniyan, Estatelinks CEO, explains that “The Wings will be providing ferry services to tenants with excellent and easy connectivity between Mainland and Island.
The building parades such features as dedicated jetty, restaurant and banking hall which differentiate it from its peers. Others are concierge, Wi-Fi connection throughout the building, cell phone reception boosters, LED lighting, motion sensors to all public areas, high surveillance CCTV systems, etc. It also offers rental concessions which include tenant improvement allowances and rent-free periods.
Apart from these features and facilities, The Wings differs from its peers in its core design, shape and orientation which are configured to provide Grade A commercial office space with multi-tenant flexibility. “Tenants will appreciate the urban views from this high-rise building; there is flexibility and energy efficiency of the floor-plate integrated into the design coupled with amenities and lifestyle/work-style possibilities”, Duke assured.
CHUKA UROKO
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