Vestas Portugal
Address and point of contact
Edifício Tivoli Forum
Avenida da Liberdade, 180ª, 5th floor
1250-046 Lisbon
Portugal
Tel: (+351) 220126560
Fax: (+351) 211547912
Introducing your location
Since the beginning of 2009, Vestas Portugal’s head office has been located in the Edifício Tivoli Forum building in the heart of Lisbon, on the most important and lively street of the Portuguese capital.
The Edifício Tivoli Forum is an office space built around the Tivoli Cinema and is the most emblematic building of this entertainment area in Lisbon. The forum was designed to make a synergy between the cultural inheritance and the necessity of modernizing this important artery of the city, and the restoration and subsequent use of the building brought a special élan to this zone of the city.
The complex includes a commercial gallery, 2 office buildings, private apartments and one NH Hotel. It also includes a public and private underground parking.
The office space covers 385m2 and serves 30 happy Vestas employees. The rooms are open plan and were designed to support a structural growth during the coming 5 years.
A little history
After the famous earthquake of 1755, that almost completely destroyed Lisbon, the Governor at the time rebuilt the majority of the city using, in some cases, Paris as a model. The Avenida da Liberdade of today was constructed in 1879-82 in the style of the “Avenue des Champs Elysées” in the French capital. The great avenue, lined with trees on both sides, quickly became a center of festivities and demonstrations. The avenue still preserves its elegance; with magnificent fountains and esplanades under the trees and the sidewalks made in “calçada portuguesa” style (which is handmade sidewalks with drawings in black and white stones). It includes among others a Monument to Deceased of the Great War.
In the beginning of its Portuguese presence, Vestas had the first office in the industrial area Maia, in the Oporto Region. The decision to place a new Vestas office in the capital was purely strategic and occurred at the same time as Vestas opened offices in Paris and other main European capitals. The capitals are usually the centre of decision of the country where you have Government, Ministries, major international companies, etc. Therefore it was really important for Vestas to have its head office in the capital in most countries.
The first 2 departments that started the new office were Sales and P&C in February 2009. The People&Culture department together with the help and knowledge of General Services from Vestas Mediterranean started to look for the best locations and premises. At the same time a new management team was recruited. Then Technology Mediterranean joined and Construction soon too.
Departments
In our Portuguese office, you’ll find the following departments:
- Sales
- Marketing
- Business Development
- People & Culture
- Construction,
- Transports,
- Technology
- Quality, Safety and Environment
What’s it like to work here
Full of the beautiful natural light that characterises Lisbon, Vestas Portugal’s office is a modern and discrete space where employees feel comfortable to work. The office is divided in areas only separated by medium size filling cabinets. Our young and dynamic team enjoys the collaboration and knowledge sharing possibilities that an open plan office offers. We are very ambitious about reaching our goals and focus much on customer satisfaction and open communication. Cooperation, friendship and humour are the key factors for the growing success in this location. In the office, we have a very nice tradition; for each new firm order, we celebrate with a bottle of champagne and every Vestas employee that is in the office at that time celebrates together.
Currently, we are working to put a Friday afternoon happy hour in a nearby space into practice.
Local benefits
As the Avenida da Liberdade is the most important avenue of Lisbon, especially from a cultural, political and commercial point of view, our people in the Portuguese office greatly benefit from being close to the life of the city centre. The fashionable street is lined with hotels (many of them very luxurious), international designer stores and some of the best coffees and theatres that Lisbon has to offer.
Being in the centre of the city, it’s very easy to run errands when you have a small break. The downtown area is just a 10m walk away or 3 minutes ride with the underground. We also sometimes take a 5 minute break and relax sitting in the garden or go around the corner, where we have a public service where you can pay your bills, deal with citizen issues or go to the bank.
Sights and surroundings
The Pombaline Lower Town area, where Vestas’ office is located, covers about 235,620m2 of central Lisbon. It’s an elegant district, primarily constructed after the 1755 Lisbon earthquake. It takes its name from Sebastião José de Carvalho e Melo, 1st Marquee of Pombal, and Prime Minister to Joseph I of Portugal, who took the lead in rebuilding Lisbon in 1755 and onwards. The Marquee of Pombal imposed strict conditions on rebuilding the city and the current grid pattern strongly differs from the organic street plan that characterized the district before the earthquake.
The Pombaline Baixa is one of the first examples of earthquake-resistant construction. Architectural models were tested by having troops march around them to simulate an earthquake. Notable features of Pombaline structures include the 'Pombaline cage', a symmetrical wood-lattice framework aimed at distributing earthquake force and inter-terrace walls that are built higher than roof timbers to reduce fire contagion.
