Lyubomir Atanasov - how does it feel for you to be in the role of a facility manager in SAC?

Please introduce yourself, not only as a member of SAC, but as a person. 

My name is Lyubomir Atanasov and I have been a facility manager of SAC for three years. I deal with the overall technical support of the complex.

What do you like most about SAC?

All…It sounds silly, but it really is all. The park environment is really unique, we have dozens of species of wild animals that I never imagined I could see in Sofia, and I have not seen so many wild animals in the Rhodopes when I went on vacation. My favorite are the wild ducks. They come every year to nest and to start a family here, which really makes SAC a special place for me.

You worked as a Facility Manager before?

I have been working everything related to construction for 15 years now.

So that experience over the years gives you the expertise to do a total review and say what do you think distinguishes SAC as a building, as a business center?

Of course, I have dealt with all types of buildings - residential, hotels and leisure, industrial, office buildings, and I have been on all sides of this process - through construction preparation, construction itself, maintenance, sales, rentals, documentation related to various institutions, municipalities, utility companies – the overall process. 

What distinguishes SAC from the other projects? What makes it so unique as a building, as a business center?

As an office building, in general. The fact that this building was built for its time, back in 2012, and 10 years later systems like integrated climate management in the building, BMS system, remotely online control system and also materials used, are still relevant today is amazing. The materials which are used are the only ones in the building, which to me is naturally one of the challenges as a maintenance manager.

Those are  the systems from building safety point of view…

Those are the systems that we use every day that control and monitor the buildings - for the safety of the building, the most common things that everyone encounters on daily basis, we use toilets, elevators every day, we use the office.

What do you think are the three key things a tenant is looking for in terms of facilities? In terms of building stock?

The most important thing for me is maximizing employees experience, making them feel comfortable in the workplace, letting them do their job, while we maintain the buildings. Doing our job in such a matter that the tenants are not bothered and interrupted even if we have a problem in the building. The less each employee understands that there are problems in the building, the better.

For this reason, we pay attention and deal with every case that arises not only in the common areas but also in the premises that are rented by tenants. An example of this -  every employee  has a different sense of temperature comfort, and we try to react to every complain and every request immediately. We are here to keep the comfort. 

And this you can control via the remote control system? 

Yes. 

And you can control every aspect of the building?

Yes. 

This general climate control system does not affect the windows, they can also be opened, adjusted?

The façade is equipped with operable windows, unlike many other buildings. We have openable windows in every panel of the façade. 

Which one is your favorite pet in the complex? 

Most definitely my favorite pets are the green-headed wild ducks, which recently got a special duck house. You know, when you have a pet you must take care of it, that is what we do. We even buy them special food to keep them happy. The pet is not just there to entertain you, you have to take care of it. 

How did you experience COVID-19? The whole year? How did it affect the offices? How have they changed?

I think that like everything else, COVID-19 has a lot of negative features that we all know, but I will talk about the positive ones. For me the most important lesson that we learned from a business perspective was that COVID-19 gave impetus to a revolutionary development of the office environment. What do I mean? Before COVID-19, the home office was a very rare phenomenon as a benefit for the employees other than the ones working in the IT industry.

COVID-19 proved that it is possible for everyone to work in home office environment and helped for the development of the overall perception of the office building. Office buildings are yet to become closer as an experience to a modern home - to offer more amenities, plus something that a modern home does not offer - communication with different people. To be able to come to the office and have a coffee with the colleagues, which by now are most certainly friends also, that can happen only in the office not the home office setting. 

During this time, did you start renovations here at SAC?

Yes, we started the development of the office, the Flex R, in the new normal and it is our goal to offer additional amenities so that the thought of every employee in the morning not to be "Ah, I have to go to work" but to associate the office with other things like: oh, I can enjoy going to the office and spend my time there. “Free time” in the office and free time in general were two different things before, but in those interesting times the two concepts are becoming very identical.

In this space, in terms of building maintenance, will it be very difficult to respond to the needs of different people who will come in to work inside?

So far we have dealt with that kind of situations. I believe that in the future we will deal with that kind of request much faster and be able to minimalize the reaction time considerably. 

We know that the building is holder of the GOLD LEED Certificate?

That is right. 

How can you describe in the most understandable human way the advantages of a building that is sustainable, that is made in terms of sustainable development and is maintained properly?

This certificate is not just a piece of paper, but includes dozens of requirements that help the building to have lower operating costs, the climate in the building to be healthier, and the materials used in terms of functionality and use to be durable in the long-term. I will repeat myself but when the end user does not understand when something was broke and fixed, then the customer is happy and calm.

Yes, we are starting to think more and more about the environment, we do not have such an established culture, especially in Bulgaria, but maybe yes, that is for sure.

Because of the international  origin of the LEED certificate, one of the distinctive specifics for SAC  is that all the excavated soil for the foundation of Building A2 was used in the creation of the park in front of the building. It did not go to landfill, it was used for the creation of the lake. In order to meet the technical requirements, we have created this lake not only toe fulfill the technical requirements, but also to create a central place for gathering people. 

If you had to describe to someone in one word or a maximum of three words, what SAC really is, (who would they be)?

Freedom. Freedom is really the word. Freedom coming from the vast space between the buildings giving the sense for air and space. The buildings are not tall, they do not oppress you with lack of space, there is a huge distance between them, the park environment gives you freedom. The planes that take off give you the feeling of freedom.