Customer demands, the lack of labor force and spreading digitization in the office mean both the retail and the residential property sectors have increasingly been utilizing innovative approaches and emerging technologies.

“In development, prefabrication and modularization is a strengthening trend that requires creativity and smart engineering to make the right balance between increasing costs and faster implementation.

In operating, real estate digitalization aims to increase comfort and optimize energy consumption as a result of increasing environmental awareness,” Tibor Tatár, CEO of Futureal tells the Budapest Business Journal.

Consumer expectations have been shaped by disruptive technologies, and as they have become more used to innovative and sustainable solutions, the real estate sector has been forced to follow suit in terms of innovation.  

“They want a level of comfort that they already enjoy in the digital ecosystem. We can also see that smart solutions are becoming part of the everyday of our business in the field of operations, maintenance, sustainability, comfort and services,” Tatár says.

Like other sectors, the real estate industry has also been affected by the lack of workforce. Smart solutions are expected to ease this pressure. At the same time “revolutionary technologies robotics, automation, data analytics, smart solutions will definitely improve project management and engineering”, Tatár notes, adding that the customer experience is also expected to be elevated.
 

Unique Experience

In fact, Futureal says that it has made significant efforts lately in providing a unique customer experience for customers, exploiting the latest technologies available.

“For example, our Cordia Sales Office was designed with a creative combination of playfulness, style and functionality. The sales team make use of cutting-edge technology to present our various development projects using touchscreen monitors, VR glasses and graphic presentations so you can learn about every aspect of our projects,” Tatár describes.

The CEO adds that the shopping and entertaining center Etele Plaza the company is now working on will be the first smart plaza in the country.  

“The most advanced location and navigation system will facilitate parking in Buda’s largest shopping center by indicating empty spaces, it will also help customers find the chosen stores or services through a mobile application,” the CEO says.

Adopting innovative solutions and new technologies also helps boost sustainability, and as such, Futureal’s related efforts have been acknowledged.  

“Futureal Group has become the first property developer in Europe to receive the WELL Building “Platinum Precertification” for three of its office building projects at the same time. Innovations driven by the WELL Building Standard will define the office market over the next decade,” Tatár says.  

Citing air pollution as a major problem, the CEO notes that his company “has been committed to developing all of its future office buildings according to WELL standards, since the health of employees working in the building must be a key priority during planning”

Innovation is seen as increasing efficiency; at the same time, Futureal expects to utilize capacities better in order to provide more added value to its customers, and to boost competitiveness.  

“In ten years our business will still be about working with people, understanding their needs and providing maximum comfort and efficiency with the support of more advanced digital solutions.

However, we also assume people ten years from now will be slightly different, with more awareness on their personal footprint on Earth and with even more openness towards digitalization,” Tatár concludes.

This regular column, run in association with Audi, looks at how some of Hungary’s biggest companies involve innovation in their daily practice.