Banknote Building

Located on the outskirts of Lithuania’s second city, Kaunas, there is an office block with a unique design that has become an attraction for those visiting the area. The Office Center 1000 business center was designed in the form of a giant 1,000 LTL (Lithuanian litas) banknote.

The 10-story building was built to celebrate Lithuania joining the European Union in 2004. It was designed by Lithuanian architect Rimas Adomaitis with construction completed in 2008. The building provides office space for banks and other businesses and is also used as a conference hall.

The exterior façade is made up of 4,500 glass panels. A “screenprinting” technique was used to place enamel designs of the banknote image onto the panels, which were then slotted together like a giant puzzle to form the overall image.

The Lithuanian litas is no longer used as the currency of Lithuania since being replaced by the Euro in 2015. The design of the banknote used for the building dates back to 1926. The architect had to apply for a license from the Lithuanian Central Bank to use the banknote design.

There were discussions about the appropriate location for a building of such prominence and symbolism. Some said that it should be located in the country’s capital, Vilnius. However, its current location in Kaunas was chosen because the city is the country’s economic center. Some thought that the ultra-modern design of the building would clash with the historic center of the city of Kaunas, therefore a location on the northern outskirts of the city in the suburbs was selected. It is located at the intersection of Peace (Taikos) and Industrial (Pramones) avenues.

Due to its unique design, this building is recorded in the Lithuanian record book as the largest stained glass window.