WING completed the development of Liberty with the delivery of another 20,000 square metres of office space and the unveiling of a contemporary work of art

2024-08-27

WING celebrated with an extraordinary event: Liberty, one of the country's most modern and ESG-compliant mixed-use complexes, has reached its final stage. The second phase of the project, comprising a total of 20,000 square meters of office space, was inaugurated. The event also included the inauguration of the WING Lemniscate, a contemporary sculpture located between the Telekom Campus and the Liberty building.

Liberty, a mixed-use development of WING offering office and hotel functions, is located in the IX. district of Budapest, at the intersection of Könyves Kálmán körút and Albert Flórián út. The second and final phase of the project, the northern wing of the complex, was inaugurated at a ceremony. 

The Liberty complex offers an ESG compliant, high quality and sustainable environment. It is dynamic in its appearance, is BREEAM Excellent rated, energy efficient, runs on 100% green electricity and has a near-zero energy demand. The handover marks the completion of a project where the range of services for tenants is now complete: the premium well-being and amenities of the ibis & Tribe Budapest hotel, the panoramic Cloud IX rooftop bar, the TRIBE Table restaurant and café, and the conference facilities have been complemented by a rooftop terrace and sports courts on the roof of the building. Nearly 80% of the building has already been leased, but there is still some office space available.

As part of Liberty's inauguration ceremony, the WING Lemniscate, a stainless steel sculpture designed by Péter Szalay and commissioned by WING, was unveiled between Liberty and the neighbouring Telekom Campus. The sculpture is 8 metres wide and 4 metres high and is made of stainless steel, which curves like a gateway through the square used by passers-by.

WING and contemporary art

The promotion of contemporary art has featured in many of WING's projects over the 25 years of its existence, and the company plans to continue to place a strong emphasis on the creation of artistic assets. WING aims to inspire users of the properties it develops, both residents and tourists in the wider community, through the real estate developments it creates, to enrich the cultural heritage and to make the works of local artists accessible to as many people as possible. The WING Lemniscate was created with these ambitions in mind, and this is where its relevance lies, as well as its general validity: in our joint efforts for a sustainable and successful future.

"Liberty is one of WING's iconic real estate developments, which has already been chosen by a number of national and international companies. The completed office building offers excellent opportunities for potential tenants to move into a people-oriented complex with a variety of services and green solutions, in line with modern real estate trends. With the Liberty and Telekom Campus buildings, Népliget and its surroundings have been repositioned from a previously under-appreciated location to a highly prestigious office submarket. The variety and quality of services available here will be enjoyed by companies, employees, residents and the wider community, as well as visitors for tourism purposes," said Noah Steinberg, CEO and Chairman of WING, and added: "At WING, it has always been important to us that our buildings are not only outstanding in their functionality, but also in the values they represent. We believe that with the newly inaugurated Lemniscate, the space we have envisioned will become more diverse and special, and we trust that it will provide an experience for as many people as possible."

Péter Szalay, creator of WING Lemniscate, said: " When designing the sculpture, it was important to consider that it would be placed in the space between the two buildings, the Telekom Campus and Liberty: the spatial curve represented by the steel construction unites the two building masses in its geometry. One of its main perspectives outlines the lemniscate, or infinity symbol, which offers numerous possibilities for association: its dynamic, wave-like gesture energizes the space bordered by the built environment and creates the illusion of movement when viewed from vehicles passing by on the boulevard. The design of the hexagonal structure was inspired by the structural principles of lattice girders and the geometry of carbon nanostructures, intended as a tribute to scientific achievements applied in architecture."

"It is important that contemporary art does not disappear from the built environment. However, this requires new forms of collaboration between investors, real estate developers, designers, and visual artists—collaborations that have become increasingly rare in Hungary over the past decades. WING's commitment is exemplary primarily because it is open to the experimental tendencies of contemporary visual art, allowing for the realization of a significant work within a Central and Eastern European context," said József Mélyi, curator in charge of the WING Contemporary Art Programme.

The construction of Liberty as an energy-efficient green property was also supported by public funds invested under the Real Estate Fund sub-programme of the Baross Gábor Capital Programme. The Hungarian Development Bank provided funds as a co-investor to the winning real estate funds in the Capital Programme's tendering process, thus contributing to increasing investment activity, improving energy efficiency and implementing green developments.

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