The new BOV Centre in Santa Venera, due to be officially opened in less than a month’s time, is an environmentally friendly and energy efficient building, with the potential to achieve up to 60 per cent saving on normal energy requirements.

“This is considerable, especially when one considers the 80 KW lighting requirement for the whole building,” comments Bank of Valletta’s Premises Department head George Cardona Schranz. “Environmental features were high on our agenda right from the very early planning stages of this project. Although the premises are serviced by a dedicated electricity sub-station, the actual building design is also energy efficient, thanks to an atrium that separates the north block of the premises from the south block, thus allowing for plenty of natural light.”

The premises have also been equipped with the latest technology in energy-saving such as Lux setting with variable intensity according to the available light and sensor-controlled lighting that switches off when the offices are empty. A state of the art building management system has been installed to monitor the whole premises from the lighting, air-conditioning and security point of view. The building also includes a battery of reservoirs with secondary water being used for non-potable requirements.

“When we were still at the drawing board, we had already envisaged the magnitude of this premises and we wanted to do our utmost to come up with a building that would minimise its energy consumption. We’ve done a good job by making use of the latest technology available in order to ensure an environment-friendly

centre and we are now applying the final touches prior to the official opening in less than a month’s time,” Mr Cardona Schranz concluded.

The new BOV Centre is the result of the bank’s process to centralise most of its non-branch units under one roof. This project was initiated five years ago with the acquisition of the land in 2000. BOV Centre, occupying a footprint of just under 5,000 square metres, is a hybrid building, constructed with concrete and derivatives from ground floor down and with a steel infrastructure with concrete encasing from the ground floor up.