[...] despite more than thirty years of transformation and equalization of differences between large cities and smaller centers, much still remains to be done," write the authors and authors of the Social Integration Center in Policznie, a small village in the Mazovia province. The ISBA Grupa Projektowa created a building tailored to the needs of the local community, while being economical and beautiful. The CIS offers the residents of Polika much more than it might seem at first glance, seamlessly combining seemingly unrelated functions. This building is proof that you don't need huge resources, iconic concepts and the latest technology to create architecture that can serve as a model for investments by big-city local governments.
A center that grows out of local needs
In architecture, good recognition is fundamental. At a time when every new building places a significant burden on an already severely strained environment, the choice of scale, functional solutions and technologies used is fraught with great responsibility. Above all, however, it is crucial to adapt the building to local specifics and to diagnose the needs of the community that will use it. This is not always an easy task - architects and architects design not only in well-known locations, it happens that concepts are created for areas they are given to hear about for the first time in their lives. This problem was avoided in the case of the Center for Social Integration in Policznie, whose success is backed by the deep connection of Patrycja Jędra, the lead designer, with the locality from which she herself comes.
Center for Social Integration in Policznie
Photo: Piotr Krajewski © ISBA Grupa Projektowa
The project of the Social Integration Center in Policznie has a personal and emotional dimension for me. I was born in Policznie, I grew up here, graduated from elementary and junior high school. I knew the needs of the residents, because I had experienced them myself over the years - at the time we lacked a place where we could meet - especially in winter. That's why, when the Head of Policzna Commune, Tomasz Adamiec, called me with the idea of creating a Social Integration Center, I felt tremendous emotion and excitement.
Preparing the project documentation was a great responsibility, but also a great satisfaction. I was often at the construction site, overseeing the implementation, and I spent the last weeks before the opening on site, supporting the final preparations.
Today, seeing the Social Integration Center bustling with life, I feel proud and moved. It's a place that connects generations and responds to the needs of the local community - we have a modern library, a community center, a music hall, a pub with a bowling alley and a space for seniors.
- says Patrycja Jędra, the lead designer, about the genesis of the project.
Social Integration Center in Policznie
Photo: Piotr Krajewski © ISBA Grupa Projektowa
Social Integration Center in Policznie
The Social Integration Center in Policznie is basically a complex of three one-story pavilions of different heights, organized around a common rectangular courtyard. The building was constructed on an elongated plot of land located at the southern border of the village. Although the CIS is far from the center of the settlement, the location is definitely not a coincidence - right next to it are the Municipality Office, the Post Office, a store and the Community Health Center. Residents will certainly look here often, especially since Policzna does not have an extensive road system, and Boleslaw Prusa Street, where the Social Integration Center is located, is the main artery cutting through the village on a north-south line.
Social Integration Center in Policznie
Photo: Piotr Krajewski © ISBA Grupa Projektowa
The disposition of the entire complex was also organized to promote easy access to the building. Although the body of the Center has been withdrawn slightly into the plot, the opening of the rectangular courtyard faces north, towards the access road and the center of the village. The building will be shielded from the busy road by a small garden, which was arranged in the front part of the plot.
Social Integration Center in Policznie
Photo: Piotr Krajewski © ISBA Grupa Projektowa
small can do more
TheSocial Integration Center in Policznie is an almost literally tailor-made building. The small municipality could not afford to build several infrastructural facilities, but the list of needs was long.
Center for Social Integration in Policznie
Photo: Piotr Krajewski © ISBA Grupa Projektowa
The idea of combining functions was conceived long ago. It was the needs of the residents that determined most of the functions of the rooms there. ISBA Design Group dressed all the ideas in an attractive architectural and construction form. In addition to this interesting design, the energy-saving criterion of the building is met (one boiler room for all functions one connection for gas, electricity, water, or sanitary sewer).
- says the mayor of Policzna, Tomasz Adamiec
Center for Social Integration in Polika
Photo: Piotr Krajewski © ISBA Grupa Projektowa
The rich functional program of the building was divided into three blocks building the complex. The largest of them, in the shape of an "L" is located on the eastern side, and its shorter frame encloses the complex on the southern side. A senior citizen's club, a library, a community center with a computer lab, and a music room are located here. On the south side , meanwhile, the largest space is occupied by a spacious multipurpose room, which can be accessed through two entrance lobbies located on different sides of the building. The central function of the room is communicated, and at the same time supported, by large glazing and a high ceiling, which makes the segment dominate the whole establishment.
Center for Social Integration in Policznie
Photo: Piotr Krajewski © ISBA Grupa Projektowa
An emergency station was built in the southwest corner of the complex. Its building, planned on a near-square plan, houses medical and administrative rooms, a room with beds for patients and a garage for an ambulance.
Center for Social Integration in Policznie
Photo: Piotr Krajewski © ISBA Grupa Projektowa
The western wing is a rectangular block, which has been entirely allocated for PUB No. 11. The meeting place, where one can talk, chill with a cold drink or have a snack, offers one rather unexpected attraction - a two-lane bowling alley awaits visitors here.
Social Integration Center in Policznie
Photo: Piotr Krajewski © ISBA Grupa Projektowa
lovely as in Policznie
The building of the Social Integration Center in Policznie is not only extremely functional, but also aesthetically pleasing. Color-wise, the building's setting is based on a combination of three colors - the light brown of the wood-finished parts, the white of the walls and the carmine contrasting window woodwork. The red color accent was also used in the building 's fixtures - mobile hangers, information boards or poster frames. The color is also used in the consistent visual communication, designed by Patrycja Jędra, which completes the whole.
Center for Social Integration in Policznie
Photo: Piotr Krajewski © ISBA Grupa Projektowa
The color used by the designer is not only an aesthetic value - the high contrast makes the most important elements of the interior properly visible. This is extremely important from the point of view of accessibility, especially since the Social Integration Center also consists of a Senior Club.
Social Integration Center in Policznie
Photo: Piotr Krajewski © ISBA Grupa Projektowa
Although the decor is frugal, elegance is added by the way the interior walls are finished, where the brick has been painted with snow-white paint. The rooms were filled with simple wooden furniture, the individual elements of which are in colors that correspond to the generally accepted color scheme of the building. The color code was broken only in the bathrooms - here yellows and oranges were used.
Social Integration Center in Policznie
Photo: Piotr Krajewski © ISBA Grupa Projektowa
The exterior of the building is similarly minimalist - the walls facing the outside of the complex are finished with light plaster, broken by carmine window woodwork. On the side of the rectangular patio, in turn, the facades are lined with light wood. In the center of the courtyard was a circular bench, surrounding a small flower bed with low plantings and a birch tree, which in a few years will cast a bit of shade on the courtyard. For the moment, protection from the sun and rain, on the other hand, is guaranteed by arcades running along the facades facing the patio.
Social Integration Center in Policznie
Photo: Piotr Krajewski © ISBA Grupa Projektowa
hopes fulfilled
The Policzna municipality does not have a large budget on a day-to-day basis, so building a facility that could meet all the hopes placed in it was a financial challenge.
The cost of construction of stage 1 is about 12,700,000 PLN. The cost of building stage 2 is more than PLN 2,000,000. The total amount is about PLN 15,000,000. Municipalities of the size of Policzna do not have such large financial resources for investment. We operate a budget of about 1 million a year for investment tasks. If it were not for the external funds obtained, it would not be possible to build such a large investment
- enumerates Tomasz Adamiec.
Social Integration Center in Policznie
Photo: Piotr Krajewski © ISBA Grupa Projektowa
Although the budget exceeded the original expectations of 2021, when plans for the Social Integration Center first emerged, the number of functions that have been able to be programmed in such a small volume and with such little money is impressive. 15 million zlotys is an amount for which facilities that perform only one of the many functions of the new Center in Policznie are often built.
Social Integration Center in Policznie
Photo: Piotr Krajewski © ISBA Grupa Projektowa
In fact, we are satisfied with every aspect of this building. From its appearance, functionality, the combination of different functions (from the rooms for seniors through the beautiful conditions in the community center, library, reading room, sound recording room to the entertainment function in the pub and health care in the emergency station). The building blends in perfectly with its surroundings. And what pleases me most of all is that it is being used for its intended purpose, that is, integrating the society of Poličia Municipality and the surrounding residents.
- concludes the mayor of Policzna.
Social Integration Center in Policzna
Photo: Piotr Krajewski © ISBA Grupa Projektowa
