Concrete, glass and greenery - these are the ingredients used to create one of the most modern academic buildings in Poland. The design of the Center for Innovative Space of the Warsaw School of Economics was created by the Stelmach i Partnerzy Biuro Architektoniczne Sp. z o.o. studio.
The campuses of Warsaw's universities are developing dynamically. The University of Warsaw has already had some great realizations, with recent construction including a dormitory in Służewiec designed by Projekt Praga or an administrative building in the courtyard of the Warsaw University Main Campus created by the 22Architekci studio, two more are in the queue - advanced work is underway on the Psychology Department in Ochota, and in November a contract was signed with a contractor for the construction of a new UW building in Powiśle, the design of which was created by BBGK Architekci studio. Warsaw University of Technology is also not idle, having recently renovated the building of the Institute of Thermal Technology on Nowowiejska Street. The Warsaw School of Economics is also in the race, having just opened its new edifice at 8 Batory Street in Mokotow to students and employees.
SGH Center for Innovative Spaces
Photo: Marcin Czechowicz © Stelmach and Partners Architectural Office
SGH Center for Innovative Spaces
The SGH Center for Innovative Spaces building was built according to the design selected in a competition organized in 2017 by the Warsaw School of Economics under the auspices of SARP. Twenty-seven works were submitted for the competition, and eventually the jury, led by Professor Marek Budzynski , chose the concept submitted by the Stelmach and Partners Architectural Office. The start of the project dragged on, but on October 12, 2022, the cornerstone was laid at the construction site. The official opening, attended by the authorities of the Warsaw School of Economics and other Warsaw universities, representatives of ministries and local government and the student body, took place on December 4 of this year.
SGH Center for Innovative Spaces
Photo: Marcin Czechowicz © Stelmach and Partners Architectural Office
academic neighborhood
The neighborhood in which the SGH Center for Innovative Spaces, also known as the "S" building, was built is part of the Warsaw School of Economics' campus, designed by Jan Witkiewicz-Koszczyc. Before World War II, in accordance with plans developed by Tadeusz Tolwinski's team, the area between Pole Mokotowskie and Jerozolimskie Avenues was to function as the Science District, where the buildings of Warsaw's universities would be concentrated. During the period of reconstruction of the capital, this concept was obliterated, so today the CPI building is separated from the rest of the SGH campus by the high-rise buildings of the Batory-East estate, built in the 1960s from a design by Irena and Tadeusz Brygiewicz. Nonetheless, there are quite a few other buildings around , associated with academic activities and student daily life - the famous student club Stodoła operates right next door, and to the north the plot on which the CPI was built is in turn adjacent to the Warsaw University of Technology stadium. The new SGH building also complements the southeastern section of the buffer zone of Pole Mokotowskie, the most valuable natural area in this part of the city. And it is doing so in an extremely responsible manner.
SGH Center for Innovative Spaces
photo: Marcin Czechowicz © Stelmach and Partners Architectural Office
The Center for Innovative Spaces is a building erected on a square plan, with two underground floors and four above-ground floors. On the first floor, in the entrance area, there are common spaces, where services, recreation and rest areas have been located. There are exhibition spaces, cafes and, in the future, perhaps this is where the dean's office will be located. The entire building opens up to visitors with a wide corridor from which one can reach the various rooms of the building and the staircases leading to the other floors.
Center for Innovative Spaces at SGH
Photo: Marcin Czechowicz © Stelmach and Partners Architectural Office
Teaching spaces have been located on level -1 and on the second floor. The CPI building offers 1000 seats in teaching rooms for students and university employees. The former are 24, and among them is an auditorium with more than 140 seats, located on the second floor. An important part of the new building are coworking spaces, which were previously lacking for those studying at SGH. The second and third floors, in turn, contain office space for university employees and technical installations.
SGH Center for Innovative Spaces
Photo: Marcin Czechowicz © Stelmach and Partners Architectural Office
glass cube in concrete fetters
The basic means of expression used by the building's facades is the rhythm of horizontal beams separating the floors, and diagonal beams spanning between them. Just behind them are large-scale glazings, providing adequate access to daylight. The new SGH building looks like a glass cube in concrete fetters. The zigzag motif of the facade also finds its counterpart in the building's internal structure - a pair of staircases that cut through the building from the foundation to the roof, where they look out over the surface.
Center for Innovative Spaces of the Warsaw School of Economics
Photo: Marcin Czechowicz © Stelmach and Partners Architectural Office
the virtuosity of concrete
Concrete plays an important role in many elements of the building. Virtuosity of glass and concrete, a term not coincidentally used in the context of projects coming out of the studio founded by Professor Boleslaw Stelmach. CPI's concrete elements come in a variety of shapes, textures and shades. The primary color accent here is the brick-red hue of the precast concrete elements wrapping the facades. The carefully selected hue corresponds with the campus architecture, designed by Jan Witkiewicz-Koszczyc, and also blends well with the facades of the nearby Barn Club.
Center for Innovative Spaces at SGH
Photo: Marcin Czechowicz © Stelmach and Partners Architectural Office
Variations in concrete also appear in the building's interiors. Particularly impressive are the lecture halls located on level -1, where the architects decided to leave the raw, rough surface of the concrete from which the cavity walls were cast. The underground rooms are illuminated by square skylights, and the light coming through them emphasizes the spatial structure of the concrete finish. A more finesse concrete accent, on the other hand, are the upper flights of stairs leading to the green roof - the lines of their steps have been treated in an almost sculptural manner, alluding to the zigzag motif of the beams girdling the building's facades. A large amount of glazing adds lightness to the interiors, while wooden finishes take care of comfort.
Center for Innovative Spaces of the Warsaw School of Economics
Photo: Marcin Czechowicz © Stelmach and Partners Architectural Office
greenery three times over
Greenery is an integral part of the architecture of the Center for Innovative Spaces in Warsaw. Its largest concentrations can be found in three places. The first is the green roof accessible to users of the building. Observing it from the air, from a wider perspective, one gets the impression that no new building has been built at Batory, because the plane of the roof merges with the nearby wasteland, the stadium's turf and the landscape of Pole Mokotowskie. Virtually all of the technical infrastructure has been hidden under a layer of greenery - only the outlets of the staircases, stretching from the base of the building to its top, benches and glass balustrades protrude above the plants. A wood-lined path stretches between them, allowing students to walk among the greenery.
Center for Innovative Spaces at SGH
Photo: Marcin Czechowicz © Stelmach and Partners Architectural Office
Hanging gardens in Warsaw
Below, on the facades, there was also plenty of space for plants. Horizontal beams separating the individual floors are hollowed out with pots about 30 centimeters deep, in which plants, including climbing plants, have been planted. These gently slope downward, contrasting with the brick-red color of the concrete used to finish the building. It's hard to resist the impression that the new SGH building has something of the imagery of the hanging gardens of Semiramide.
SGH Center for Innovative Spaces
Photo: Marcin Czechowicz © Stelmach and Partners Architectural Office
However, plants hang not only on the facade - vertical gardens have been created in the interior, along the staircases stretching the entire height of the building. The green wall here climbs more than 18 meters upwards. The use of such a solution has a number of advantages - from improving air quality, to helping regulate the temperature in the building, to having a beneficial effect on the well-being of those inside the Innovation Space Center. Such a structure requires proper maintenance. In this case, automatic systems take care of the supply of water and necessary nutrients. The operation of other installations in the building is similarly automated, managed by an intelligent BMS system. This is one of the many 21st century solutions that have found their way into the new SGH building in Warsaw.
