WITOLDA 3840

Witolda 3840 is an example of how to reclaim a place for the city and enter into a dialogue with its pre-war, post-German fabric. Because of the increasingly vibrant urban life along the Oder, we decided to create a metropolitan boulevard in keeping with the existing development in the area, thus revitalising and activating the waterfront. The new pavilion with flats and restaurants increases the functional attractiveness of the area while formally reducing the height of the second line of development, making the front more accessible from the side of the river. The stylistic simplicity of the building reflects our intention to be unobtrusively present in this historic site.

 

NOWY TARG

Nowy Targ is a new experience of a building on the scale of an urban quarter. In it, we looked for metropolitan architecture with good proportions and sustainable materials. In an attempt to depart from introverted structures, we planned a bustling ground floor with service outlets accessible directly from the street. Rhythmic façades with distinctive courtyard cuts added dynamism to the body of the building and broke up the monumental scale. Façade elements were differentiated according to their compositional role and grained. We believe that it is possible to build offices that contribute to the renaissance of the street and counteract the functional monoculture in city centres.

GREEN DAY

“Edifice” was the key word, and the proximity of Ostrów paved the way for formal experiments. Feelings of permanence, quality and timelessness were important. Hence the transposition of the motif of wall with openings and reference to the residential texture of the frontage. In place of the one-dimensional façade, the starting motif became the window with its attributes: reveals, glyphs and chiaroscuro, geometrised and multiplied to achieve the intended effects.

It is satisfying to see that a banal set of offices gave rise to a piece of the city with a completely new morphology, which can now be filled with dense life.

WITOLDA 43

After changes to the local plan, the time came for an act of radical design. Closing off the block with a wall-stage for urban activities, we rather dramatically dissected the body of the building in search of a better distribution of the masses. The homogeneous façade, perforated by alternating portcullis openings and black-lined loggia recesses, is topped by an openwork of roof pergolas. A terrace overlooking the river and the urban skyline, freely accessible to all residents, enhances the uniqueness of the location, while the ground floor with commercial premises provides a base for the much-anticipated city-making functions.

DUBOIS 41

We were yet again faced with the task of designing onto urban fabric that once existed here. Two blocks were separated by an extension of Dubois Street. The first one was given the form of a solid residential block with floors shifted with respect to each other, which visually conceals the actual mass of the building. The other one is a coherent urban complement with an internal pedestrian street. They share a single entrance gate and courtyard raised to the +1 level, with a reinforced concrete terrace overhanging the river. All this to achieve clear spatial zoning with perimeter development. This project is about contemporary urban density.

KURKOWA 14

We were yet again faced with the task of designing onto urban fabric that once existed here. Two blocks were separated by an extension of Dubois Street. The first one was given the form of a solid residential block with floors shifted with respect to each other, which visually conceals the actual mass of the building. The other one is a coherent urban complement with an internal pedestrian street. They share a single entrance gate and courtyard raised to the +1 level, with a reinforced concrete terrace overhanging the river. All this to achieve clear spatial zoning with perimeter development. This project is about contemporary urban density.

ZITA

The building, part of Promenady Wrocławskie housing estate, has the structure of an urban quarter and two dominant features. The façade composition is based on a rigorous arrangement of rectangular openings that reflect the modular functional layout. The grey ceramic cladding on the façade highlights the consistency of the design. The minimalist character of the interiors is enhanced by the clear separation of the office premises with cubicles along the middle passageway, and aesthetically – by the application of a limited range of solutions throughout the building and selection of finishing materials in line with the industrial character of the complex.

 

STC

The STC building consists of a base with the height of the surrounding development and a dominant feature for which no restrictions were imposed by the plans. The tower section accentuates the opening in the corridor of Piłsudskiego Street and signals the presence of the railway station forecourt. The body was divided into modules, slightly twisted in relation to the vertical axis in order to obtain a dynamic that strengthens the impression of slenderness. This solution improved the daylight illumination of the neighbouring buildings.

The STC building contains a set of services reviving this part of the hitherto infamous Przedmieście Oławskie district and represents another step towards its revitalisation.

KINDERGARTEN RECONSTRUCTION

It happened fast: the city’s far-sighted decision to hand the site over to the Chamber of Architects, EU grants, a quick reconstruction project and construction within five months. There were more questions than answers: about the precise location, details, colour. Laborious work with a conservation officer brought a reward – the discovery of an original paddling pool.

And thus a new home of architecture was created – a permanent address that is an integral part of the local government’s raison d’être. And with it, activities: meetings, lectures, workshops and youth exhibitions. But that’s another story altogether.

MUSIC SCHOOL [OSM]

 

The size of the plot, its exposure to sunlight and acoustics all added up to create a homogenous block with a courtyard. The compact layout imposed a disciplined division into functions with an acoustic buffer from the street. The main body is made up of autonomous “boxes” of rooms finished with acoustic systems that attenuate or amplify individual sound bands.

Piłsudskiego is a unique street, along which frontages of monumental edifices blend in with each other. We tried to continue this idea by using the school to “patch” a gap in this line.