Lodz, a city known for its distinctive buildings influenced by the history and development of the textile industry, is today, after years of post-transformation crisis, being reborn before our eyes. Many post-industrial buildings are being reused and adapted to new functions. This is also the case of the XS Wigury Office building of the REFORM Architekt project, which was built on the basis of a former watchtower.
A four-story 900-square-meter office building is under construction on Wigury Street in Lodz. XS Wigury Office is distinguished by a distinctive entrance area and lobby designed at the former brick watchtower building.
XS Wigury Office is a combination of two blocks - the former watchtower and a new glass form
© REFORM Architekt
The second life of the watchtower on Wigury Street
We absorb the old tissue, we don't destroy it, we make it a complement to something new. Łódź has its own characteristic buildings. These brick buildings are a symbol of a bygone era, but nevertheless still an intrinsic symbol of the city. I am glad that there are investors who care about preserving the facade of old buildings, thanks to which investments such as XS Wigury Office are being created. Old buildings in a new guise, we absorb what is, but with respect for the history of the building," says architect Marcin Tomaszewski of REFORM Architekt.
XS Wigury Office is a boutique office building
© REFORM Architekt
Once a watchtower - an ordinary brick building, but today its block has been inscribed in modern development. The building looks different on each side, and from the front it resembles blocks arranged like in a game of Tetris. Black glazing adds to its modernity. The entire structure is arranged in black teeth that expand upward. This created an element that overlaps the watchtower, forming a single, coherent block with it.
The glass block overlaps the brick watchtower building
© REFORM Architekt
Marcin Tomaszewski'sprojects are characterized by combining modern functions, unconventional solutions and intriguing body design, and the XS Wigury Office building was no different. Here we can find everything that the architect likes - a simple body, large glazing and a certain unobviousness - a combination of the old and the new, but in a way characteristic of the designer. Hence the extension of the facade and the reference to tetris blocks.
A boutique office building in Lodz
Until now, office buildings have been associated primarily with soaring, glass and tall buildings. In the case of XS Wigury Office, we can apply a new term on the Polish real estate market - boutique office building. The building by REFORM Architekt is a small, intimate building, and it is connected with the form of huge office buildings only by glazing.
with the form of huge office buildings, the building is connected only by glazing
© REFORM Architekt
XS Wigury Office is the smaller development of the entire complex on Wigury Street. The second building XL Wigury Office is also under construction. The complex is being developed in cooperation with Lodz-based developer Aflopa Real Estate. The company's portfolio includes, among others: The Woolen Factory, a coach house converted into a modern office building on Żeromskiego Street in Łódź, and an exclusive apartment building in Jastarnia.
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