The closer you get to the historic center of a city, the more difficult it is to anchor new development in its architecture. It is not difficult to have a construction disaster when trying, while designing buildings that are shallow and uncharacteristic may not satisfy architects, investors and even residents. To meet these difficulties came Maćków Pracownia Projektowa, which created a concept for a building that fits into the difficult historical fabric of Wroclaw architecture. The first stage of Bernardyńska 4 is ready!
The long-awaited investment by developer Toscom is heading for completion - the first of the building's two stages is now complete. The whole establishment will consist of two blocks located in the quarter between Bernardyńska, Klemens Janicki, Jan Evangelist Purkyni and Slowackiego avenues. The building under construction in the first stage, located on the south side, has adopted a shape similar to the outline of the letter "C " - its northern counterpart, which will stand on the site of the Orange office building to be demolished, is planned on a quadrilateral plan, with an internal courtyard.
Bernardyńska 4 in Wrocławi
PL: proj.: Maćków Pracownia Projektowa © photos courtesy of Aluprof
context three times over
Looking at the project erected according to the design of the Zbigniew Maćków design studio, it seems that the priority was to fit the buildings into the architectural context, both the direct one, created by the Bernardine Church housing the Museum of Architecture, the Dominican Gallery or the historic tenement houses on Al.historic tenement houses on Slowackiego Avenue, as well as the somewhat further context, which includes the Market Hall, the Oder River with its boulevards, and above all the nearby interwar Post Office building. The most important solutions, which were used to unite Bernardyńska 4 with its surroundings, seem to play out in three spheres - the way of shaping the body and facades, the choice of materials used for finishing the buildings and the spatial configuration of the objects within the developed plot.
wrocław zigzag
The most conspicuous formal treatment, which allowed to distinguish Bernardyńska 4 from other residential projects, and at the same time - how perversely - to inscribe it in the architectural surroundings, is the way of shaping the facade. In this one Zbigniew Macków decided to enter into a dialogue with brick buildings, constituting the architectural character of the immediate area. Undoubtedly, the appearance of Bernardyńska 4 was influenced by the inspiration of the Post Office building, erected in 1929 according to the design of Lothar Neumann. In an era of modernist triumph, Wrocław's first skyscraper was built in an expressionist style, which was expressed in the use of red brick in place of white plastered walls, geometric detailing and "zigzagging" of the facade.
The tower of the Post Office in Wroclaw
Photo: Beata Maliszewska @ CC BY SA 3.0 | Wikimedia Commons
All these elements can be found in the new building designed by Zbigniew Maćkow. The leitmotif chosen was... zigzag. The facades of the building are divided into rectangular fields, which house large windows and loggias. Concrete cornices in the form of beams positioned not parallel to the building line, but slightly at an angle, have been chosen here as horizontal articulation, demarcating individual floors. The cornices alternately recede, creating a wavy, zigzag line. The motif has been repeated in many other places - from the partitions separating the roof terraces, the shaping of the connector's facade, the forms of the railings to the slope of the window sashes.
The forms used by Zbigniew Maćkow have not only an expressionist, but also a gothic pedigree. This is evidenced both by the dynamic expression of the facade and the way the vertical articulation was solved. This was carried out with the help of vertical polygonal columns, deceptively reminiscent of the pillars supporting the vaults of Gothic churches. It is not a coincidence that one of such buildings stands right on Bernardyńska Street.
Bernardyńska 4 in Wroclawi
PL: design: Maćków Pracownia Projektowa © photos courtesy of Aluprof
next thread
Also associated with Gothic architecture, but also with many other buildings in Wroclaw, is the material used to finish the facade. While the horizontal articulation is made of concrete elements, the vertical columns are clad in clinker reminiscent of red brick. The architects here decided to use a herringbone pattern with the tops of the "herringbones" pointing upwards - the resulting decoration alludes to both the attics of the Post Office and the verticalism of medieval temples, while breaking the horizontalism that is a consequence of crowning the building with a flat roof.
At this point it is worth noting that on the side of the inner courtyard the elevations were finished in a slightly more economical way. There it was decided to cover the walls with plaster of a light sandy shade. However, even here the broken rhythm of the facade finds its continuation, albeit in a slightly different editorial. Unlike the street-looking elevations, the bases of the balconies on the courtyard side have taken the shape of rectangles. Instead, they are alternately smaller and larger, creating a rhythmic rectangular wave.
Bernardyńska 4 in Wroclawi
EN: design: Maćków Pracownia Projektowa © photos courtesy of Aluprof
view building
Although the plot Toscom is developing has a relatively regular shape, is aligned and well connected, the unique environment in which it is located meant that the way the buildings were laid out on the parcel required a great deal of care. The church, which is part of the post-Bernardine monastery complex, should be considered the most important nearby architectural structure, which was probably the point of reference for the design decisions made.
The architects decided to split the complex into two blocks - the space created between them formed a new viewing axis, facing the western elevation of the church. In order to strengthen the perspective effect, the wing of the southern building, spanning between Bernardyńska and Janickiego Streets, was slightly tilted, allowing to create a square on the plan of a triangle, at the end of which is the facade of the Gothic church. The new space was opened to everyone, arranged with small architecture and trees. The square is to be enlivened by services located in the ground-floor parts of the building facing its interior.
Bernardyńska 4 in Wroclawi
PL: design: Maćków Pracownia Projektowa © photos courtesy of Aluprof
From the side of Janickiego Street, the view of the church is visually framed by an aboveground connector, set on slender polygonal columns, communicating the buildings of Bernardyńska 4. The connector is also an important element conditioning the reception of the facade from Klemens Janickiego Street, interrupting the rigorous rhythm of the extremely long facade.
The building also fits in with the surrounding buildings in the context of spatial relations expressed vertically - the southern block of Bernardyńska 4 is stepped, aligning with the gables of neighboring buildings, while the gables, following the example of many Wroclaw buildings, have been slightly set back.
Bernardyńska 4 - scheme of elevation divisions
drawing: Macieków Pracownia Projektowa
something more
In the case of the new residential building on Bernardyńska Street in Wroclaw, there's no need to delude oneself - these are not cheap, accessible apartments for everyone. In order to match the amenities offered to residents with the high level of architecture and prestigious location, the investor provides a wide range of common spaces in the building. It will be possible to use not only, increasingly common in "more expensive" developments, a gym or spa area, but also a meditation room, squash and basketball courts and coworking space. Despite consisting of two buildings, Bernardyńska 4 is in fact a small city within a city. Only for a select few, of course.
Bernardyńska 4 in Wroclaw
proj.: Maćków Pracownia Projektowa © Aluprof
a unique symptom of low standards
The positive reactions evoked by the public to the building at 4 Bernardyńska Street are certainly justified. At the same time, they are also a symptom of the low level of housing construction in our country. Are the elements that make up the success of Bernardyńska 4 - the inclusion of the architecture in the context, the attention to detail and the quality of the common spaces - so much? Theirs should be synonymous with standard, not indicating the uniqueness of the Wroclaw development. In fact, unfortunately or unfortunately, taking into account just these aspects, Bernardine 4 should be considered exceptional.
