Tomas in JPJ and Ross & Brown frames
Tomas designs projects built on solid foundations, growing alongside the people who live in them.
26. May 2025, Author: Barbara Garaj, Photo: Jakub Čaprnka
He's been around architecture and construction since his university days. Gradually, though, he realized what truly fulfills him is project management. He channels his potential where strategy, responsibility, and working with people come together.
Today he leads development and project management at our neighbors YIT, right here in Pradiareň. He oversees a team of architects, designers, project permits, and planning itself.
Though Tomas studied architecture, he was drawn to planning rather than drawing floor plans from the start. After school, he worked with a group of architect friends who later created the children's café TUTO in Stará tržnica.
For several years at the market hall, he worked as manager, administrator, and general problem-solver. Without construction plans but with tremendous dedication, he helped the market hall function and come alive from within.
His name is also connected to the platform Čerstvé ovocie, organizing Urban Markets, and the Grape festival, where he handled bar construction. He supported the Bratislava community through Galéria Cvernovka, which he launched with his crew in the former Pradiareň. Back then, he had no idea he'd return one day as part of the construction company involved in its reconstruction.
He joined YIT through the NUPPU project (Finnish for "bud"), where he realized a model apartment. He and his colleague have been working on the project since 2017, making sure new housing for over 1,500 households gradually blooms on the edge of Ružinov.
So what does a project manager actually do at a company like YIT?
A project manager is like a guide through the entire project process. It starts with buying the land, continues through planning, coordination, and decision-making, until he hands it over to the administrator and the people moving into the new space.
"I see myself as a crisis manager who can set up new things and, most importantly, see them through. I focus on making the whole process sustainable."
At work, he likes combining innovation with everyday reality. For NUPPU residents, he introduced carsharing, for instance – a community car-sharing system available as needed. A large courtyard grew in the center of the project, inspired by the Finnish concept of 'live in a yard'.
A running track, pétanque, community gardens, a sensory path, a dog run, and a grill zone create space for relaxation or gathering. They're primarily for residents, but the public is welcome too.
Tomas also contributed to developing wireless sensors that protect apartments from break-ins. He's currently working on the Zwirn project and is involved in the civic association MY YIT, which supports kindergartens, courtyards, and community activities for NUPPU.
During our meeting on the Pradiareň rooftop, he mentioned several times that he wants to help people improve housing accessibility. His personal goal, and YIT's goal as well, is to build faster, more efficiently, and at more affordable prices.
He believes in building smaller housing units, because good layout can make a little go a long way. The smarter the floor plan, the more genuinely usable space. Plus clever features that adapt the apartment to your needs – flexible furniture, fold-down beds, or work nooks.
Even though Tomas is often at his desk, he likes running from the computer straight to the construction site. He cares that his colleagues in the field stay safe and return home in one piece every evening. In his free time, he switches off work mode and dedicates himself to his family. They cycle together or visit favorite community spots.
ZITA wasn't far for Tomas. Literally just a few floors down. For years he wore contact lenses, since he associated glasses with an unpleasant childhood experience. But eventually comfort won out. When he decided to get an eye exam, he headed straight to our optician's.
"If I'd had such a quality exam as a child, I definitely wouldn't have trauma from wearing glasses. It was a very positive experience for me."
At first he considered eye surgery, but after talking with our optometrist, he opted for prescription glasses. At ZITA he went through a systematic frame selection process, which he praised highly. When only a few final pieces remained, he called in his family for help and the final decision came very quickly.
He ended up leaving the optician's with two frames. He wears his prescription Jean Philippe Joly most often to work, where compliments from colleagues came right away.
The French frame in petrol blue with a speckled pattern on the temples alternates with black sunglasses from Ross and Brown. The Italian model keeps him company in the field or outdoors during weekend moments with his family.
"I'm very happy with the frames. Back then there wasn't such emphasis on glasses quality – especially as a kid, I didn't realize it at all. Now the basics for me are having good, quality glasses, which these from ZITA fulfill 100%."
