The design of Reykjastræti 6 received BREEAM certification in the summer of 2023 and now the construction and fit-out of the building have achieved the same certification. Both phases received the rating Excellent, which is the second-highest level in the BREEAM certification system. The Bank’s building is the first project in Iceland to receive final certification with this rating under the 2016 BREEAM standard.
As part of the sustainable design and certification of buildings under the BREEAM framework, a wide range of factors are assessed, including environmental and safety management during both construction and operation, a healthy indoor environment covering aspects such as acoustics, air quality and lighting, as well as energy efficiency and the minimization of various forms of pollution generated by the building. This is one of very few projects in Iceland where the goal was not only to obtain BREEAM certification, but also to achieve such a high rating for a new building. That objective guided the project throughout the entire process. Great emphasis was placed on selecting strong partners throughout the entire construction and building process. EFLA was responsible for the engineering design, ThG Verk handled the concrete structure of the building and Íslenskir aðalverktakar oversaw the final completion. The project was managed by VSB. Construction took place from 2018 to 2023 and the building was taken into use in 2022 and 2023.
Last year, the building was awarded the Concrete Award from the Icelandic Concrete Association which annually recognises built structures that combine original and professional use of concrete in a man-made environment.
„Achieving final BREEAM-certification with the Excellent rating is a really good result,“ says Lilja B. Einarsdóttir, CEO of Landsbankinn. “We set ambitious goals and worked with outstanding designers and contractors on the construction of the building and they all deserve recognition for their excellent work. We chose this approach because it was important to us that the building would be cost-effective to construct and to operate over the long term. We also achieved our most important objective which was to create a great environment for our employees, enabling us to focus all our energy on providing outstanding service to our customers. The building has served us exceptionally well and we are proud of how successful the project has been and how effectively we have utilised the building both for our operations and to host various events.”
