OTP Bank has set up a new, 450 square-meter research and development center in the historic downtown building of Váci 1. The office features a special education center, project rooms and a lecture hall, according to a press release sent to the Budapest Business Journal.

The new facility of OTP LAB (OTP Bank’s retail innovation hub) started its activities in the UNESCO World Heritage-listed building this month, says the press release. 

“We managed to flexibly and elegantly accommodate the research and development function of OTP LAB into the historic setting of this 1915 building,” said Attila Kovács, managing partner of developer Horizon Development, of OTP’s move to Váci 1. “The office solutions we provide to OTP LAB are all in line with 21st century sustainability and technical criteria, and the environment we offer is that of an authentically renovated neoclassicist palace.”

Váci 1 is a “design-and-build” project of the DVM group, with its design, project management, environmental consultancy and construction units all playing an important part in the 2015 revitalization of the building.

The occupancy rate of Váci 1 is now at 100%, with the upcoming move of its last tenant planned for April 2018.

Resource: bbj.hu