Polish Olympians and Olympic athletes have their own town square in Radlin and a park in Katowice. In the Lesznowola municipality near Warsaw's Ursynow, on the other hand, a housing development with the proud name "City of Polish Olympic Champions" will be built. The investor is Profbud, while Mąka Sojka Architekci is responsible for the project. Robert Lewandowski is also involved in the project, acting as a content partner.
The City of Polish Olympic Champions is a new housing development to be built in the Lesznowola municipality located just outside the southern border of Warsaw. The investor plans to erect about 40 buildings, which will include apartments and the infrastructure needed by tenants. In keeping with the name, the theme of the estate is to be the achievements of Polish athletes at the Olympic Games. The theme chosen by Profbud is not surprising, given that the company was one of the sponsors of the Polish national team during this year's Olympic games in Paris.
City of Polish Olympic Champions
© Profbud | Mąka Sojka Architekci
City of Polish Olympic Champions
The developer decided to take advantage of this fact, weaving it into the cogs of the marketing machine promoting the new housing development. The press conference, where the project was unveiled, featured a host of sports personalities, including this year's medalists - Ola Miroslaw, Julia Szeremeta, Klaudia Zwolinska and Daria Pikulik. As a tribute to their achievements (and probably also as a publicity stunt), during the gala, the developer handed the four Olympians symbolic keys to apartments in the yet-to-be-built housing development.
Polish Olympic medalists received keys to apartments
© Profbud
From Paris to Los Angeles in 15 minutes
The Olympic theme is reflected in the structure of the estate. The developer has announced the erection of three quarters of residential development, serving as separate neighborhoods. Their names will refer to the locations of the last and future Olympic Games - so there will be Paris 2024, Milan 2026 and Los Angeles 2028. The individual parts of the estate are to differ strongly from each other, drawing inspiration from the cities from which they inherited their names. Thus, there will be references to the Champs-Élysées, the architecture of Milan or American street art. Although the announcements sound like a description of an amusement park, it is hard not to appreciate the efforts to diversify the architecture of such a large establishment.
an estate like a city
The impressive scale of the project forced the designers to plan landmarks and designate neighborhood squares. The most important of these is to be the Central Square, at the heart of which will be the tallest building, several stories high, serving as an architectural dominant and signpost. The remaining buildings are to have six stories each.
The Polish Olympic Champions Estate, however, is not only about the names of the districts and the athletes promoting them. As revealed by Pawel Malinowski, president of Profbud, the concept of the City of Polish Olympic Champions is based on four pillars. These are time, Olympism, ecology and community. How are they reflected in the projects presented?
City of Polish Olympic Champions - mockup presentation
© Profbud
time is the most valuable prize
The concept of the City of Polish Olympic Champions ideologically coincides with the assumption of a 15-minute city, in which the most necessary infrastructure for living is located within a few minutes' walk or commute. Thus, the developer announces that crèches and kindergartens, retail and service establishments, and bazaars will be built as part of the development. The developer also plans to provide residents with several clinics, a day hospital and a rehabilitation center. According to the presentation, future tenants of the Olympic estate will also save time on commuting - thanks to the proximity of the Warsaw Jeziorki train station, the trip to the center is expected to take about 20 minutes.
Before that, the station will still have to be reached, which will be taken care of by an autonomous shuttle bus, operated by means of a mobile application. What the "mobile" aspect of the bus is supposed to consist of was not explained. During the conference, the issue of the road system communicating the new housing development with Warsaw and surrounding towns was also raised - in order to relieve congestion on Pulawska Street, the investor will build a new roadway, directly connecting the City of Olympic Champions with the nearby station.
As a young boy, to pursue my passion, I had to spend many hours commuting, which was not always easy. That's why I know how important it is to create a place where young people can develop their talents close to home, in a safe environment. I believe that together we will build a space where everyone will have the opportunity to realize sports passions and dreams.
- Robert Lewandowski said during yesterday's conference.
Robert Lewandowski speaks about the City of Polish Olympic Champions.
© Profbud
olympians' estate
The sports theme is the ideological axis of the suburban establishment, although it is also reflected in the urban layout and functional program of the estate. A quarter of the entire development's area will be devoted to a sports quarter, which will include soccer and paddleball fields, tennis courts or climbing walls. The architects have also planned an amphitheater with performance space. A total of 20 sports are to be represented, the selection of which will depend on the success of Poland's future Olympic medalists and medalists, and decisions made by Robert Lewandowski, the project's content partner.
The estate will also feature an Alley of Champions of Sport, with handprints of Polish Olympic champions and champions, including Otylia Jedrzejczak, Tomasz Majewski and Pawel Nastula. As part of the premise, the investor also announces educational paths introducing the stories of the most important figures of Polish sports.
An important element of the urban plan will be the so-called Olympic Mile, a traffic route in the form of a ribbon running through most quarters of the development. Depending on the district through which a particular part of the Olympic Mile runs, sports disciplines will differ. The Milan 2026 district, dedicated to the upcoming Winter Olympics, for example, will feature an ice rink and an ice track that will connect Central Square to the park.
City of Polish Olympic Champions
© Profbud | Mąka Sojka Architects
sponge city
In keeping with good taste and current trends, the designers could not ignore ecological issues. Solutions were proposed in three areas - transportation, energy and water management. In the case of the first of these, the main focus was on promoting public transportation, facilitating residents' access to the nearby train station, including with the help of the aforementioned autonomous bus. The estate's energy needs will be met in two ways - electricity will be provided by a wind farm owned by the developer, while heat will be drawn from geothermal sources, which are said to be located on the site being developed.
Most important, however, will be water management. The City of the Polish Olympic Champions is to have the structure of a sponge, so the architects promise to arrange rain gardens, retention basins (including a lake on Central Square) or seepage boxes. There is also going to be a lot of greenery in the designed estate. There will be green roofs, vertical gardens, and above all smaller and larger parks. The most impressive promises to be a linear park, which will run between buildings in the Paris district. The green corridor with a span of 35 meters will be filled with numerous plantings, small architecture and water bodies.
Olympic neighborhood
The architects and the investor hope that a close-knit and diverse community will be formed in the City of Polish Olympic Champions. Its development will be influenced by all of the above-mentioned aspects - access to sports and recreational complexes, common educational infrastructure, and even shuttle bus rides. Great emphasis is placed on safety; the developer's ambition is to create a neighborhood where children will attend school independently, without worrying about traffic and other dangers.
Pawel Malinowski talks about the City of Polish Olympic Champions
© Profbud
a medal estate?
The promises sound wonderful, even fairytale-like. However, it is difficult to say whether the pompously presented investment will actually be realized. Legal considerations may stand in the way, since a procedure is currently underway to cancel the resolution that some time ago allowed the construction of a housing project on plots owned by Profbud.
During the conference, there was also a lack of specifics - the number of apartments, construction dates or the overall cost of the project. Many of the assurances, including those regarding environmental solutions, were presented in a vague manner and left a fair amount of ambiguity. The issue of infrastructure also seems problematic - although the investor plans to provide residents with access to several crèches and kindergartens, the Lesznowola municipality may not be prepared for an influx of such a large number of residents. But will there really be so many takers? Which of us wouldn't want to pay extra for the unique opportunity to share a backyard with Olympic champions on a housing estate branded by Robert Lewandowski? I rather not, although the impressive advertising campaign will probably attract many enthusiasts of outdoor activities, new technologies and gossip from the world of sports.
