2023 CEEQA Jury

Quality Awards

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    Alan Colquhoun MRICS, Management Board Advisor, Velis

    

    

    Alan first arrived in the CEE region 30 years ago, joining DTZ Prague in May 1993. After heading the Czech business between 1996 and 1999 he went on to lead the DTZ Polish business from 1999-2009, taking overall responsibility for CEE from 2006. After transferring to Canada and the UK in 2010 and 2011, he returned to his former Poland / CEE role at DTZ from 2013 to 2016 during which time the firm merged with Cushman & Wakefield.

    Though resident in his native Scotland since the end of 2016 he has remained active in the region as an independent management board advisor to proptech firm Velis since July 2021 and as an advisor with a London based boutique capital markets advisory firm DC Partners, currently working on a portfolio project across Poland.

    Alan has been a member of the RICS since 2006.

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    Andrew Peirson MRICS, Managing Director Czech Republic, JLL

    

    

    Andrew has been JLL’s Managing Director for the Czech Republic since 1 January 2021. He has more than 15 years of experience in real estate in the CEE region and has also worked in the UK for four years. Previously, he was CEO of JLL in Belgrade, Bucharest and Zagreb. He also spent three years managing the office leasing department in King Sturge’s Prague office before JLL’s merger with King Sturge in 2011.

    Andrew has extensive sales and business development experience, is very familiar with the client environment, is a leadership type and has a passion for developing JLL’s business plans in the region. During his time in the CEE region, Peirson has advised key market occupiers and investors. In the last 5 years, he has been involved in transactions in the SEE region with a total volume of over €1 billion.

  • 

    Anna Madra, Partner, Allen & Overy

    

    

    Anna is a partner to the Banking team at Allen & Overy, A. Pędzich sp.k. She is a qualified Polish attorney-at-law and was admitted to Warsaw Bar Association in 2013. Anna has been involved in various corporate and banking and finance transactions, including leveraged finance, project finance, real estate finance and restructurings. She also has experience in real estate development and management projects. In 2016, she spent six months in the London office of Allen & Overy, advising on international financial transactions.

    Anna Mądra has been ranked a Leading Banking and Finance Lawyer by the Chambers Global 2023 and Chambers Europe 2023 guides. In 2020-2022 Anna was ranked A Rising Star in Banking and Finance by the Legal 500.

  • 

    Arvi Luoma, CEO, Blackbrook Capital

    

    

    Prior to founding Blackbrook in 2020,  Arvi was Head of European Investments at W. P. Carey.  Blackbrook is a specialist investor focused on future-proof supply chain infrastructure, with approximately €1 billion of assets across Europe.  Arvi has more than 15 years of direct investment experience extending to over €5 billion of acquisitions across 20 countries in all major asset classes including industrial & logistics, office, retail, healthcare and hospitality.

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    Arvydas Avulis, Chairman & Owner, AB Hanner

    

    

    In 1991 Arvydas established AB Hanner, and from 1995 the company commenced investment in real estate. AB Hanner grew into leader of Baltic region and in 2004 received a CEEQA award for mixed use real estate development of the year for the Europa project in Vilnius. From 2005 AB Hanner started investment in foreign markets and currently develops projects in four countries – Lithuania, Latvia, Ukraine, Romania, and completed a project in Russia.

    Arvydas obtained a master degree of Civil Engineering from Vilnius Gediminas Technical University in 1978.

     

  • 

    Brendan Long, Head of Property and Hotels, Santander Bank Polska

    

    

    Brendan is Head of the Corporate Property and Hotels Department for Santander Bank Polska.  Santander has the largest property finance portfolio and the largest team of property financing professionals in the Polish market.  The team is an experienced long-term financing partner in both Development and Investment Real Estate projects in Poland across all property sectors.  Brendan has over 25 years of experience in financing Property projects including over 15 years of experience in the Polish Property market.

  • 

    David Yearn, Managing Director, REassurance

    

    

    David heads the strategic growth, development and management of REassurance through CEE and Europe. Based in Poland , David has lived and worked across CEE and SEE for more than 20 years. The last 15 years of his career has meant direct involvement with some of the region’s largest real estate transactions and he has worked with many leading developers, banks, lawyers, investment funds and advisors providing solution driven transaction insurance. David has worked on numerous, office, retail, logistic, hotel and green-energy projects both as single assets or large portfolios across CEE.

    REassurance is an independent boutique insurance broker with specialist focus upon commercial real estate, M&A and renewable energy. They offer insurance solutions in respect of most real estate transactions. Whether it is a single asset acquisition, portfolio disposal or cross-border transaction they have experience with all requirements. Their combined legal and insurance knowledge especially relating to the legal ownership or use of real estate and transaction risks allows us to fully understand their client needs and deliver to them the ideal solution that is appropriate and cost effective.

  • 

    Doron Klein, CEO, AFI Europe

    

    

    Doron is in charge of AFI Europe in Romania and the Czech republic. AFI Europe is a development company focusing on development and management of large scale office, retail and residential projects.

    Doron was born in Israel, where he obtained bachelor´s degree in finance from Haifa University and graduated from University of New York in Prague, Czech Republic, where he obtained MBA degree. He has been working in the real estate sector since 2005 and has been at AFI Europe company since 2008. He speaks Hebrew, English and Czech.

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    Jarek Wnuk, Managing Director Poland, Accolade

    

    

    Jarek has been involved in the commercial real estate sector for more than 20 years, working with international commercial real estate agencies, global developers and private equity funds. He has experience in investment transactions and leasing of commercial office and warehouse projects in Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary. As Managing Director Poland at Accolade, he is responsible for supervising the effective execution of the company’s development strategy in Poland, including the expansion of its current portfolio, as well as raising capital. A key responsibility will also be asset management, which at Accolade is tailored to the needs of tenants while maintaining a high investment performance.

  • 

    Jonathan Hallett MRICS, Executive Partner, Head of Central & Eastern Europe, Cushman & Wakefield

    

    

    As Head of Central & Eastern Europe, Jonathan oversees Cushman & Wakefield’s operations across the region, with over 1100 staff in six countries (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Poland, Russia and Turkey) and Cushman & Wakefield Alliance partners in a further nine countries across the CEE region.

    Jonathan is a European Executive Committee Member of Cushman & Wakefield and the Managing Partner of Cushman & Wakefield in the Czech Republic. He is a member of the RICS, IBF Board Member (International Business Forum), and BGMC Board Member.

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    Karol Pilniewicz, CEO, Futureal

    

    

    Karol works in the real estate industry for almost last 20 years. He is currently responsible for Futureal Investment Partners, the Investment arm of Futureal Group. Futureal Group is one of the biggest commercial and residential developer in CEE but also active in US, Israel, Germany and UK. Futureal beside residential development business in Poland (Cordia and Polnord) has also logistic activities in the CEE region (HelloParks), hotel, office, and retail investments.

    Prior joining Futureal Karol worked at Australian’s Cromwell Property Group (ASX index) responsible for CEE region (Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia and Romania) in the commercial real estate sector managed 50 people team and Euro 1,2 bn AUM. Since 2009 till 2020 additionally managed Polish Retail Fund holding 11 polish assets initially in the portfolio, with 750 retail tenants, and since 2012 till 2021 managed Central European Industrial Fund, holding c. 50 logistic assets in Poland, Czech Republic, Romania and Hungary, 270 tenants and AuM c. Euro 275 MM initially. Prior Cromwell, Karol worked at GE Capital Real Estate, involved in MBO of GE Capital Real Estate polish and Luxembourg licensed businesses to Cromwell. Size of the transactions c. Euro 550 MM. Prior GE Capital Real Estate worked at Aareal Bank and ING Real Estate IM.

    Karol holds independent supervisory positions in BlueWater Capital, Polnord S.A. Karol has both, CCIM and RICS certificates

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    Kirsten Felden, Senior Investment Manager CEE, Union Investment Real Estate

    

    

    Kirsten Felden graduated at the EBC University of Applied Sciences, Hamburg with a Masters Degree for International Management in 1993. She has 10 years experience in development, restructuring and leasing of shopping-centers. She joined Union Investment in 2004 and was responsible for investments in Turkey, Benelux and Mexico until 2007. Since 2008 she is responsible for property acquisitions and sales in CEE region.

    Union Investment is a leading international property investment company specialising in open-ended real estate funds for private and institutional investors and has assets under management of some € 35 billion in 20 real estate funds. The current portfolio comprises 365 properties and projects throughout Europe, the Americas and Asia/Pacific. Union Investment operates as an institutional investor, landlord and developer in 23 countries around the world, with approximately 60% of property assets located outside Germany.

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    Krzysztof Misiak MRICS, Head of Poland, Executive Partner, Cushman & Wakefield

    

    

    Krzysztof has worked for global real estate services firm Cushman & Wakefield for 15 years. He was appointed Head of Regional Cities in the Office Agency team in 2012 and successfully launched the Cushman & Wakefield brand in Poland’s core regional markets. In 2018, he became Head of the Office Agency. In April 2020, he took on the role of Head of Cushman & Wakefield Poland. One of the best-known professionals in the Polish commercial real estate market, Krzysztof has acted on close to 400 leases for more than 700,000 sq m.

    Despite market challenges during the pandemic, his strategic decisions helped to maintain and improve business profitability. With his energy and innovative management approach, he inspires not only clients and partners, but also his employees whom he treats as equals irrespective of their position within the organisation. He takes other people’s opinions seriously, but he has a clear vision of the future he would like to materialize shortly to bring a brand new quality to the Polish commercial property market.

  • 

    Lenka Kostrounova, Director of Real Estate Financing Division, CSOB

    

    

    Lenka has been active in real estate financing more than 15 years. Together with her professional team within ČSOB, she is responsible for real estate financing in the Czech Republic. The main task of the division is to secure the financial service tailored-made for real estate developers and investors and others, for whom is the ownership, facility management or real estate crucial in their business. During the career, Lenka has successfully structured the financing of dozens real estate projects in volume of several billion EUR. Lenka is the Board member of Association for real estate development from 2012.

  • 

    Marcin Klammer, Chief Executive Officer Central and Eastern Europe, Investment Design

    

    

    Marcin is the founder and the creative director of Investment Design, a company combining the solid financial/ commercial approach to real estate developments with innovative architectural and industrial design. The company concentrates on own real estate development projects and joint ventures taking the role of a development manager.

    He is a recognized real estate professional on the European real estate market with 25 years of experience in commercial real estate, infrastructure, design and real estate development. In the capacity of CEO in Poland he led the final phases of HB Reavis landmark developments: Forest and Varso Tower in Warsaw. His role included strategic leasing, overseeing the finalization of the construction process, commissioning and laying the grounds for consecutive company’s developments. During his career he was the development director at Unibail Rodamco Westfield, the CEO of BNP Paribas Real Estate agency in the CEE region encompassing Romania, Hungary, Czechia, Slovakia and Poland.

    As CEO of Arcadis, Marcin was responsible for strategic infrastructure projects, large environmental and water management investments and landmark placemaking real estate projects. In his role as the leader of the leading engineering and consulting company (EC Harris, Arcadis) he was responsible for the Manufacturing and Technology Sector across Europe.

    Marcin is a licensed architect experienced in leading teams, managing companies, projects and large development programmes.

  • 

    Mark Rea MRICS, Managing Partner, Sentient

    

    

    Sentient is one of the largest Project & Cost Management Consultants operating throughout Central & Eastern Europe and beyond. Following 22 years with Gardiner & Theobald, rising to Equity Partner, in 2013 Mark led the successful buyout of the G&T CEE operation together with the other regional partners. With the rebranding completed in October 2013, Sentient is now firmly established throughout the region with offices in Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Montenegro and Croatia, together with extensive experience in many of the neighbouring countries, including into Italy and Austria – all based on the provision of high quality, client-focused services.

    Mark has been based in CEE for over 20 years and has experience throughout the region. He is a Member of the Institute of Royal Chartered Surveyors.

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    Martin Erbe, Head of International Real Estate Finance Continental Europe, Helaba

    

    

    Martin is responsible for real estate lending across continental Europe for Helaba Landesbank Hesse-Thuringia, which belongs to the German savings bank network. Based at the bank’s Frankfurt headquarter, he manages the origination for Central Europe and Benelux. Martin has worked on a wide range of financing transactions in the past and has more than 22 years of real estate experience in the European markets.

    Helaba currently manages a loan book of around EUR 34 bn in commercial real estate, almost half of this amount representing the bank’s international business in Europe and the US. Helaba’s relationship-oriented strategy has remained unchanged for years and is consistently directed towards its target markets.

  • 

    Omar Koleilat, Chief Executive Officer, Crestyl Group

    

    

    As co-founder of Crestyl Group, Omar envisions the company’s business strategy, devises its financing and stick-handles investor relations. Omar is Czech and Lebanese and thus brings a mix of Middle Eastern flair and European precision to the company. With an education in the field of architecture and a British RICS graduate degree in real estate investment, Omar knows whereof he speaks. From partnering with GE on a €500 million investment to the creation of a stellar team of residential and commercial experts, Omar has been changing the face of the Czech Republic since 1998.

  • 

    Peter Szamely MRICS, Head of Department, Real Estate Finance, HYPO NOE

    

    

    Peter leads the Department for Property Project Lending at the HYPO NOE Landesbank AG in Vienna. Responsible for property lending in CEE & Austria, Germany, and Benelux countries.

    Peter has gained a wealth of property experience in various positions over  his carrier of  35 years.  Prior to joining to HYPO NOE in 2008, Peter was head of the Representative office of Eurohypo AG in Budapest, Senior Manager at Jones Lang Wotton and Head of Property Acquisitions at Kuwait Petroleum. Peter has an education in Economics, Finance and Land Economy and is an active member of RICS.

  • 

    Piotr Szafarz, Partner, Dentons

    

    

    Piotr is a partner in Dentons’ Warsaw office heading the Real Estate practice in Poland and in Central and Eastern Europe.

    Piotr has specialized in real estate since 1995, his main focus being on investment, development and finance work. He has led and negotiated multiple single asset and portfolio transactions (notably in sale-and-leaseback, forward purchase and funding structures), primarily in the retail, logistics and office sectors. During his career, he has been involved in a number of institutional and landmark projects, like acquisitions of the largest retail assets in the CEE region, and advanced revitalization schemes regarding historic buildings and town planning. Piotr regularly advises on forming joint venture structures.

    He is ranked as a top tier real estate lawyer in Poland by independent legal directories. Chambers Europe has placed him for several years in Band 1. Piotr is also recommended as an expert in the area by Who’s Who Legal.

  • 

    Piotr Trzcinski, Head of Poland, Savills IM

    

    

    Piotr is responsible for execution of investment strategies of real estate investors and funds managed by Savills Investment Management (Savills IM) in Poland and the management of the Polish office. He joined Savills IM in May 2017 with the opening of the Warsaw office and since then contributed to the growth of the Polish real estate portfolio of 1.8 bn EUR AuM, expanding the local team to 9 professionals. In his role Piotr closely cooperates with Savills IM teams across Europe.

    Piotr has an in-depth knowledge of the Polish real estate market, with 19 years of experience gained in international investment and asset management companies. Over his career, he was responsible for asset management of commercial properties exceeding EUR 2.6bn and completed over EUR 600m in real estate transactions. Before joining Savills IM, Piotr held various investment and asset management positions at KSP, BlackRock and CA Immo.

    He is a graduate of the School of Management of the University of Warsaw, a member of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and holds CCIM designation. He has also completed the Leadership and Management Certificate Program at the Wharton School.

  • 

    Ramon Spoladore, Head of Central & Eastern Europe, Generali Real Estate

    

    

    Ramon is the Head of Central Eastern Europe & Nordics Region and is in charge of the real estate activities of Generali Group across eight Central and Eastern European and four Nordic markets.

    In his role, he is tasked with managing the relationships with the Generali Real Estate global functions, Generali global investors (PAN EU Funds) and Generali Group’s local Chief Officers, providing portfolio management advice on the real estate investments, ensuring the investment and divestment processes, scouting the markets and originating deals in line with the portfolio strategies. He is also responsible for the of the asset, letting, finance and property management activities in the region.

    Ramon joined Generali Group in 2002 after 2 years of experience in Pirelli Real Estate, also in Milan. He started to work in the real estate arm of Generali Group, Generali Immobiliare, helping to develop the investment, asset and fund management areas of the future Generali Real Estate. In 2008, Ramon embraced the new adventure of Generali Group in Prague (Generali PPF JV) focused on CEE Countries where he became Head of Real Estate. In 2013, Ramon came back to the new Generali Real Estate. In 2016 he became Head of CEE Region and in 2018 the Region was enlarged to the Nordic Countries too.

    Ramon holds a Degree in Business Administration from the University of Trieste and Real Estate Specialization from SDA Bocconi in Milan.

  • 

    Robert Dobrzycki FRICS, Chief Executive Officer Europe, Panattoni

    

    

    Robert is the CEO & Co-Owner of Panattoni Europe, UK and India. Panattoni is the largest logistics developer in Europe with completed portfolio of over 19 million sqm of completed floor space in the UK, Germany, France, Netherlands,  Austria, Hungary, Czechia, Poland, Spain, Slovakia, Sweden and Italy. In the last five years Panattoni has been ranked as the top logistics developer by PropertyEU magazine due to having delivered the largest volume of space in Europe.

    Before joining Panattoni, Robert Dobrzycki was employed by industrial developer Menard Doswell & Co. In 2005, he established Panattoni headquarters in Poland for the region of Central and Eastern Europe, became CEO of Panattoni for Europe in 2014, and assumed his current role as CEO and Co-Owner in 2021. He is a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (FRICS) and holds a master’s degree in business management from Warsaw University.

  • 

    Sean Doyle, Head of Capital Markets Central & Eastern Europe, CBRE

    

    

    Sean is the Head of Capital Markets for Central & Eastern Europe covering office, retail, industrial, residential, hotels and alternative sectors having been based primarily in Poland for 16 years. Sean started his career in San Francisco working for a developer before moving to London and eventually Poland and has led CBRE to their current number one position on the Polish market in recent years transacting over EUR 14 Billion.

    Recently Sean has led some of the most important office transactions within the CEE region including the sales of the Iconic Warsaw Spire, the Warsaw Hub, Rondo 1, Plac Unii, Q22, Generation Park, Metropolitan, Warsaw Trade Tower, Malachowski Square, Ethos, Eurocentrum, Browary Warszawskie and the Equator just to name a few. While on the buyside he has brokered  the sales of Zlote Tarasy (Skylight & Lumen), Spektrum, Warsaw Financial Centre, IBC, Focus, Sezam,  Mokotow Nova and Oxford Tower.

    Sean has overseen the sales of the largest Logistics Portfolios in the history of the Polish market with the sales of 5 subsequent Hillwood portfolios, the largest sale and leaseback transactions on behalf of Amazon, separate record breaking Amazon sales for Macquarie and Invesco as well as  Zalando. He has also been involved in the acquisition of EUR 1 Billion M1 Retail Portfolio, the EUR 300 Million acquisition of Wars  Sawa Junior –  Poland’s iconic high street asset. In 2019 Sean oversaw the  sale of the EUR 600 Million Rocky portfolio. While hotel sales have included the sale of the Puro Hotel portfolio and Sheraton Kraków.

  • 

    Stanisław Kubacek, Managing Director, Head of Investment Eastern Europe, Heimstaden

    

    

    Stanisław is responsible for sourcing residential investments for Heimstaden. Formerly responsible for residential investments in Europe at Round Hill Capital. Prior to this, he was an investment banker in the Goldman Sachs’ European real estate team in London. Stan holds a master’s degree in Finance and Business Strategy from Sciences Po University in Paris.

  • 

    Tomasz Lisiecki, CEO, Trigranit

    

    

    Tomasz has more than 20 years of professional experience in the real estate sector working at property development companies. Mr. Lisiecki joined TriGranit in 2004 as a financial analyst, becoming the country director in Poland from 2008, and Chief Development Officer in 2012. Following the sale of TriGranit to TPG Real Estate in 2015, Tomasz took on the role of chief investment officer. In 2017, he left TriGranit for two years and served as Chief Development Officer at Citycon in Stockholm, returning to TriGranit in 2019 to take on the role of CEO following the sale of Trigranit by TPG to Revetas Capital.

    Tomasz holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of Toronto and Executive MBA from the Kellogg School of Management and the WHU-Otto Beisheim School of Management.

  • 

    Victor Constantinescu, Partner, Head of Real Estate SEE, Kinstellar

    

    

    Victor is the Managing Partner of Kinstellar’s Bucharest office and the Co-Head of the firm-wide Real Estate practice.

    With almost 20 years’ experience in real estate focusing on Romania and the wider SEE region, Victor represents an array of international real estate funds and other real estate players across all sectors. Victor has built a reputation for efficiency and a “no-nonsense” commercial approach in organizing and closing transactions in the billions of EUR over his career and for building long-term relationships – skills that have earned him recognition as a top real estate practitioner for years in a row by major legal guides.

    A Canada-born, native English speaker, he began his career in the United States. He completed his undergraduate studies at the University of Pennsylvania, a graduate degree in Russian and East European Studies at the University of Toronto, and  law degrees from McGill University in Canada. He is admitted to the New York and Bucharest Bars. Before joining Kinstellar, Victor had worked for law firms in Romania and the US. While he has been tasked with various managerial roles in the firm, Victor is a transaction lawyer at heart, and enjoys what he does.

    Leading international legal directories such as Chambers, Legal 500 or other benchmark publications recommend him for being “very approachable and easy to engage in any project”. He is further recognised for “his deep knowledge of the industry”, as well as “leading understanding and application of law coupled with transactional experience.” Other interviewees praise him: “Victor Constantinescu is very hands-on, provides very good advice, has a lot of experience and knows how to handle any problems.”

  • 

    Vladimir Bolek, Member of the Board, IAD Investments

    

    

    Valdimir has been a member of the Management Board of IAD Investments since 2015. He is responsible for all of the company’s portfolio management activities, having joined the company in 2010 as portfolio manager for its “First Real Estate Fund”, where he was also involved as deputy of several real estate companies incorporated in the structure of the fund.

    Vladimir began his career in 1994 in public administration at central state administration level in Bratislava. Later, after the transition to the private sphere, he became asset manager specialising in real estate investments. After the establishment of specialised real estate mutual funds in Slovakia in 2006, he became portfolio manager of a specialised real estate fund in Erste Asset Management in Slovakia. He also created and managed portfolios for a private banking department. Later, he participated in portfolio management of the corporate real estate company Slovnaft a.s., before joining IAD Investments.

    Vladimir is also a contributor to professional publications dealing with the issue of investment and asset management of real estate in Slovakia. He studied social sciences at Comenius University in Bratislava and later law and economics at Nottingham Trent University and Brno International Business School in the Czech Republic.

  • 

    Volodymyr Tymochko, Managing Director Private Equity, Dragon Capital

    

    

    Volodymyr is Managing Director, Private Equity at Dragon Capital. At this position he is responsible for a number of private property investment companies with over 25 commercial real estate projects in Ukraine. Volodymyr has been with the Сompany since 2007, when he joined Dragon Asset Management as a Director and was in charge of deal sourcing and management of real estate projects. Prior to Dragon Capital Volodymyr was an Associate Director for Consulting and Investment Services at Colliers International. Volodymyr has over 18 years of total professional experience in the Ukrainian real estate market. He has deep competencies in capital markets and property management. He graduated from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy and holds an MA degree in Economic Theory.

  • 

    Zbigniew Czajewski, Managing Director Poland, BuroHappold

    

    

    Zbigniew leads the Poland office of BuroHappold. He has nearly 25 years of experience in the design and comprehensive project management of office and multi-functional buildings, as well as cultural and infrastructure projects.  

    Under his leadership, Zbigniew has led the company maintaining a leading position in the Polish market with around 140 colleagues situated in Warsaw, delivering multidisciplinary projects and technical consultancy, including sustainability and carbon footprint assessments and supports the architects and investors with a problem-solving attitude.

    Zbigniew is passionate about design solutions that are of high quality, innovative and sustainable but also cost-effective for clients which are reflective of his previous career experiences spent developing projects from the client’s side.  He is a customer needs-orientated expert, directly involved in projects based in Poland and internationally spanning different sectors and typologies.