Cornerstone laying at the threshold of Torun investments

The eastern part of the city is ground for production, services, depots and warehouses located by the national road and the motorway exit - this is where logistics operators and warehouse developers build their facilities. The sites on this side of Torun are vast, open and usually still served by heavy transport coming off the arterial road, so the official part has to be fitted between trailer traffic and the fronts of earthworks at the foundations of the hall. The investor wants to show partners and local media the scale of the undertaking without halting the works, which is why we build the ceremony zone so that the representative part coexists with the safety rigour in force on a building site.

We prepare the signing of the foundation act, the placing of the document in a time capsule and its setting in the foundation, with an official setting around it involving the investor, the contractor and invited representatives of the authorities. For the eastern sites, smooth logistics of guest access from the motorway junction matter, along with a separate area in which people in suits do not clash with heavy machinery. We combine this ceremony with a short presentation of the investment, so that the local business community knows from the outset what facility and what jobs are being created by this road.

The western axis of the city's growth is its largest investment zone in history, together with the Torun Technology Park gathering firms from innovative sectors - IT, high technology, the creative sector and research and development. The investments that start here are office buildings, laboratories and service-production facilities, often linked to the neighbouring university campus and the Jan Czochralski Centre. A ceremony for such an investor tends to be more intimate and prestigious than the opening of a warehouse, with an audience of the management board, academic partners and representatives of regional government.

For this part of Torun we compose the foundation act and the official part so as to underline the technological and scientific character of the project - a clear protocol, an elegant stage setting, room for speeches by the investor and city authorities. The astronomical and academic identity of the city of Nicolaus Copernicus offers a natural leading theme, which we weave into the script of these research-led ceremonies. We prepare each foundation act with care for the official language of the document and for the ceremony to match the standing of the emerging innovation centre.

The act on the building site itself is often only part of the ceremony - investors are happy to move the representative complement to the historic interiors of the city centre. The Gothic town hall on the market square, the historic social salon of the city where the Second Peace of Torun was sworn centuries ago, or the modern cultural and congress centre right by the old town, all provide a setting worthy of the most important guests. We therefore combine the technical side of the cornerstone laying in the investment zone with an elegant official part in the heart of the World Heritage-listed old town complex.

Such a two-part scenario allows the safety requirements of the building site to be separated from a representative gathering with regional authorities, partners and media. After the signing of the foundation act and the setting of the time capsule, we invite guests to a ceremony in a historic hall, where the toasting, the speeches and the presentation of the investment take place. For many investors it is precisely this setting, embedded in the prestigious fabric of the Torun old town, that gives the whole event its stature and makes it memorable for those invited.