The new AVIUS production facility in Eszteregnye was built in the space of a year 

AVIUS Kft.’s new industrial facility on the outskirts of Eszteregnye has been completed. The company’s new 13,000-square-metre manufacturing base was built as a greenfield project. With this development, AVIUS has established a new home for the manufacture, bespoke design and production of its products made from glass-fibre-reinforced plastic (GRP). 
The project was also a significant undertaking from a construction perspective: in addition to the manufacturing, warehousing and office functions, it required the coordinated implementation of technological, mechanical engineering, utilities, road construction and external environmental elements.  

The main contractor’s role went beyond mere coordination 

The Szabadics played a key role in the construction of the factory. At the handover ceremony, the client stated that, for a project of this scale, the vision must be backed by a main contractor „who will see the project through to completion with professional expertise, a sense of responsibility and a reliable presence”. 

Tamás Kovács, Chairman of the Board of Szabadics Construction Zrt. highlighted cooperation as the key word for the project in his speech. As he said, this was crucial not only in the relationship with the client, but also in the relationships established with the designers, technical supervisors and subcontractors. 
„We not only managed this project as the main contractor, but also played an active role in its physical implementation: our civil engineering, structural engineering, utility, road construction and structural works teams all worked on it,” he said. 

It took them just one year from signing the contract to handover 

The construction of the factory was the result of a lengthy, multi-year preparatory process: the project progressed from the selection of the site and the purchase of the land, through rezoning, design, planning permission and construction, right up to the official handover ceremony. The actual construction of the facility, however, took almost exactly one year.  
The total cost of the investment was 5.5 billion forints. Of this, 300 million forints was provided by a state-subsidised loan, whilst the remainder was financed from the company’s own resources. AVIUS employs 200 people, and the new factory will also provide the opportunity to recruit a further 20–30 employees. 

The project was carried out as part of regional cooperation 

Michael Eloesser, owner of AVIUS Kft. and Fibrolux, highlighted the regional significance of the investment. He put it this way: they have not merely established a facility in Eszteregnye, but also wish to provide „a bright future” for the town and those living in the surrounding area.
„I hope we can help ensure that young people stay here, as they will be able to work in good conditions,” he said.  
Antal Csamangó, managing director of AVIUS Kft., emphasised in his speech that the investment was the result of the joint efforts of many parties. He expressed special thanks to the designers, the technical supervisors, the specialist contributors, as well as Szabadics Construction and Zrt. as the main contractor and the group of subcontractors. As he put it, the essence of the project was to turn „an idea into a feasible plan, and then the plan into a finished building”. According to the managing director, another particular merit of the investment is that AVIUS’s main partner was a company also with roots in Nagykanizsa, meaning the development has also become a fine example of regional professional cooperation. 

A crisis-proof product range – diversified production is being built around the new base

AVIUS Kft. manufactures profiles, gratings, floor panels and bespoke structures from glass-fibre-reinforced composite plastic. The company’s products are used in a wide range of applications: in industrial facilities, buildings, renewable energy projects, as well as in the automotive industry and specialised technological applications.  
It was stated at the handover ceremony: „AVIUS’s products can be used in an extremely wide range of industries”, and this diversification is one of the cornerstones of the company’s stability.  
The factory utilises proprietary, digitised and automated pultrusion technology, which enables more standardised production, more precise measurement and a faster response to customer requirements. 

Many functions in one building 

The new AVIUS factory was not simply built as a standard industrial hall. The project involved creating an industrial facility in which production, warehousing, office operations and external infrastructure all form a unified system. Géza Rajkay, project manager at the Szabadics Group, told our portal that they had been commissioned to act as the main contractor for the building complex as part of the AVIUS project in Eszteregnye. In addition to the construction of the buildings, this contract also covered utility and road works, the installation of fencing and a fire-water reservoir, as well as obtaining the occupation permit. 

The main building, with a total area of approximately 12,000 square metres, combines production, storage, office and staff facilities within a single structure. In the street-facing wing, alongside the raw materials stores and preparation rooms, offices, changing rooms and staff facilities have been fitted out, whilst an additional office block is situated on the upper floor.
The two-storey office section was completed with a gallery-style entrance hall, separate toilet facilities for office staff and manual workers, a plant room and a server room. The rear wing serves the production and storage activities of AVIUS. 

The office and the dining room have been furnished with bespoke furniture

Both the production hall and the office block were constructed using a prefabricated reinforced concrete load-bearing structure and prefabricated reinforced concrete cup foundations. The horizontal and vertical bracing, the lintels for the façade openings, and the canopies were made of steel. The floor slab of the two-storey office block was formed using prefabricated hollow-core floor slabs, whilst monolithic reinforced concrete bracing walls were used at several points; the staircases between the storeys are also of monolithic reinforced concrete construction. The reinforced concrete frame was clad with steel-reinforced, thermally insulated sandwich panels. The flat roof was fitted with high-ribbed trapezoidal sheets, complete with thermal insulation and PVC waterproofing, whilst protection against precipitation was provided as part of an integrated system incorporating the parapet design. Heat and smoke extraction domes, which open automatically in the event of a fire, were installed on the roof.
In the office area, plasterboard partition walls and exposed-beam suspended ceilings were fitted. The offices were fitted with PVC flooring, whilst the wet rooms were tiled with ceramic tiles. SZABADICS was also responsible for the manufacture and installation of bespoke furniture for the offices and canteen.
A monolithic reinforced concrete ramp connects to the main building, featuring a steel-framed canopy covered with trapezoidal sheet metal and a ramp leveller to assist with lorry loading. 

Explosion-proof areas have also been set up 

The manufacturing technology also imposed specific requirements on the design and construction. Géza Rajkay explained that the mixer, the resin and styrene storage areas, and the additive storage area had to be designed as potentially explosive atmospheres in accordance with ATEX regulations. In these rooms, the electrical, mechanical and process systems also had to comply with the relevant safety requirements. Electrical and process installation was not part of the remit of SZABADICS; the latter was organised by AVIUS and Kft..  

In the ATEX areas, industrial flooring with a conductive synthetic resin coating has been installed, whilst the industrial doors separating the rooms are certified, explosion-proof structures. Two separate smaller buildings have also been constructed on the site: a peroxane storage facility with a monolithic reinforced concrete structure, partially sunk below ground level, and a storage building with a structure comprising partly monolithic reinforced concrete and partly steel, clad with trapezoidal sheet metal. 

The industrial floors have been adapted to the load 

The layer structure and load-bearing capacity of the industrial floors have been adapted to the stresses encountered in each area. Along the routes used by large forklift trucks, a 25-centimetre-thick concrete floor was laid, incorporating 2.5 kilograms of plastic macrofibres per cubic metre. On routes used by smaller forklift trucks and in pedestrian areas, a 20-centimetre-thick industrial floor was laid, incorporating 2 kilograms of plastic macrofibres per cubic metre. Expansion joints in the large-panel floors were provided using steel profiles, and the structure was reinforced with steel mesh where necessary. 

Working on several projects at the same time was the main challenge 

According to Géza Rajkay, one of the greatest challenges of the construction project was the tight deadline, particularly as the design of the prefabricated reinforced concrete and steel structures could only begin once construction had started. Organising the delivery of materials and coordinating the work processes taking place simultaneously both inside and outside the building also presented a significant organisational challenge. As part of the project, a 22 kV transformer station with a capacity of 2×1600 kVA was also installed to supply power to the facility. 

The building can be operated without fossil fuels 

Balázs Ferkócza, technical manager of Szabadics Építőipari Zrt., explained that the building’s mechanical systems had been designed to meet the varying requirements of each function. Two-pipe fan-coil heating and cooling systems were installed in the offices, whilst underfloor heating or fan-coil heating was fitted in the changing rooms, shower rooms and other ancillary areas. In the production halls, the temperature required by the technology is maintained using heating and cooling fan-coil units and air-handling units. Heating and cooling for the facility are provided by two air-to-water heat pumps located next to the building, which are connected to a shared heating and cooling distribution and collection system. A further 11 industrial split-system air conditioners operate in the production area. When designing the system, operational costs and operational reliability were both key considerations: the specified internal temperature and the required volume of ventilation air can be maintained even in the event of a heat pump failure. Fire protection is provided by a wet fire-fighting water system.
The facility’s heating, cooling and domestic hot water requirements are met by heat pump systems. The equipment utilises thermal energy from the outside air, thus relying on a renewable energy source. Only electricity is used to operate the building; there is no need for any directly used fossil fuels. 

Rainwater is used in the fire-water reservoir

Energy-efficient operation is further supported by the fact that the fresh-air ventilation systems in all sections of the hall have been fitted with heat recovery units and filters.
The Eszteregnye site, situated some 10 kilometres from Nagykanizsa, is served by the M7 motorway and the 7th main road. Utility connections were established via Cerinkai Road, which runs along the eastern side of the site. Wastewater is channelled into the existing network, whilst some of the rainwater is directed into the new fire-water reservoir and the rest into the open ditch alongside Cerinkai Road.