A modernist office building at 22 Solec Street in Warsaw will be transformed into a private dormitory. Three years after Zeitgeist Asset Management took over the building, construction work is beginning. Group 5 Architects is responsible for the project.
The redevelopment of the building, located in the immediate vicinity of Warsaw 's Vistula boulevards, is expected to last until 2022. This fall, the first students are expected to move into the building. They will have 149 rooms with 214 beds at their disposal. Some of them are to be of a higher premium standard, and the whole concept is based on the U Průhonu building in Prague - Holešovice, already completed by the same investor.
Photo: ZEITGEIST ASSET MANAGEMENT
dormitories - few places and low standard
For more than 290,000 students in Warsaw, there are only 20,000 beds in 99 dormitories. This makes the student rental market attractive to private investors as well. Unlike university dormitories, the target group for private investors is primarily foreign exchange students. Currently, about one-third of Warsaw's students are from abroad. The low standard of the places offered in student residences, in turn, means that only 75% of the places are occupied.
Students prefer apartments
photo: ZEITGEIST ASSET MANAGEMENT
Students most often choose to rent rooms and apartments. Of these , however, two-room apartments are the most popular. Investors also took advantage of this knowledge in the case of the project on Solec, where most of the residential units will be arranged in a two-room system with a shared bathroom and kitchen.
photo: ZEITGEIST ASSET MANAGEMENT / Grupa 5 Architekci
The project, developed by Group 5 Architects, calls for the preservation of the existing building consisting of an 8- and 12-story block. Adapted to the needs of people with disabilities, the building will provide access to a private self-service laundry and a bicycle storage room. The lower floors will house service establishments - including stores and food and beverage outlets. The architectural expression of the building is to undergo cosmetic changes. Preserved interior elements (including the staircase) will be supplemented with enlarged glazing maintained in the original style of the socmodernist office building.
dormitories in modernism
photo: ZEITGEIST ASSET MANAGEMENT / Group 5 Architects
Group 5 Architects has completed a similar project before. In 2017, they commissioned the BaseCamp student house in Lodz. A post-industrial building from the 1960s located on Revolucja 1905 Street was adapted for its needs. The modernist character of the building was emphasized, by preserving the massive load-bearing structure and prefabricated elements of the facade.
