Investments at the University of Warsaw are not slowing down. A new seat for the chemistry department is under construction, a dormitory in Sluzewiec has recently opened, and in recent days the university has announced the opening of a new building in an extremely sensitive location. Warsaw-based studio 22ARCHITEKCI sp. z o.o. is responsible for the design of the new pavilion with administrative and teaching functions.
Although more than a week has passed since the opening of the MSN, the fierce discussions between supporters and opponents of the new building in news portals and social media have not quieted down. In the shadow of the grand inauguration, however, another building was made available, which was also being built in a location with a very strongly defined identity. It is an inconspicuous administrative and teaching building that filled the space of the upper courtyard on the Main Campus of Warsaw University.
Administrative and didactic building in the courtyard of Warsaw University
photo: Mirosław Kazmierczak/UW proj.: 22Architekci
it took a while
There was more buzz about the planned investment when, in October 2018, the University of Warsaw and the capital's branch of SARP announced a competition for the construction of a new pavilion and the development of the courtyard located at the back of the Tyszkiewicz-Potocki Palace. Of the thirty works submitted, the Competition Jury, chaired by Piotr Śmierzewski, selected the concept, which was prepared by the 22Architekci studio from Warsaw.
Administrative and didactic building in the courtyard of Warsaw University
photo: Mirosław Kazmierczak/UW proj.: 22Architekci
difficult environment
The building was constructed on the Main Campus of Warsaw University on Krakowskie Przedmieście, in the annex of the Tyszkiewicz-Potocki Palace. The task that faced the design team was not one of the easiest, but they succeeded in bringing about a profound metamorphosis of this difficult space. At the turn of the 1960s and 1970s, a one-story printing plant building with a very "pragmatic" facade stood on the square. Before World War II, in turn, there were stables and a carriage house here. Until recently, the square surrounding the building of the small printing plant was used in a similar way, as people employed at the University parked their cars at the back of the Tyszkiewicz-Potocki Palace. The space of questionable aesthetics contrasted with the surroundings of the historic buildings of the campus - the aforementioned palace and the Auditorium Building. Design difficulties also included the significant unevenness of the site, which the architects had to take into account in their concepts.
Administrative and didactic building in the courtyard of Warsaw University
Photo: Mirosław Kazmierczak/UW proj.: 22Architekci
carefully and with taste
Of the many proposals, both more and less daring, the Competition Jury decided on a project that was subdued and neatly integrated into the character of the space in which it was implemented. According to the architects, the basic determinant that guided the design work was the former axial layout of the square between the Tyszkiewicz Palace, its annex and the Auditorium Building. The new building was erected on the plan of an elongated rectangle. It offers its users 14,000 square meters of usable space, which was laid out over three floors - two above ground and one underground, hidden in the slope dividing the upper courtyard space. The façade of the building, covered with a hipped roof, is extremely simple - interspersed on the east and west sides with five pairs of rectangular window openings, illuminating the first floor and the floor rising above it. The proportions seem to be a distant echo of 17th- and 18th-century garden pavilions. The materials used on the facades (colored architectural concrete), moreover, allude to the buildings surrounding the square.
Administrative and didactic building in the courtyard of Warsaw University
photo: Mirosław Kazmierczak/UW proj.: 22Architekci
The space between the UW buildings, into which the new pavilion has been squeezed, hasalso undergone a metamorphosis. The previously undeveloped slope was strengthened, and part of it was transformed into a staircase with seating. New paving was also created around the deteriorating gazebo, which was surrounded by a bench and an additional row of trees. For the moment, the square doesn't seem to offer much shade during the midday hours, but everything will change as the years pass and the trees planted here grow.
Administrative and didactic building in the courtyard of Warsaw University
proj.: 22Architekci
an important point on the campus map
Although hidden in the shadow of the Tyszkiewicz-Potocki Palace, the new building is expected to become the first point of contact that university applicants and international exchange participants will have with the university. Welcome Point, as the building is referred to, will serve as the University's "reception area."
It is very important that students and doctoral students from abroad, but also foreigners working at the UW, will be able to get the necessary information and assistance with important formal matters related to functioning at the university and staying in Poland. The concentration of units dealing with these issues in one building will enable comprehensive support for foreigners at the University of Warsaw.
- noted during the opening of the facility UW Vice-Rector for Development Ewa Krogulec.
Three floors are planned to house offices, workshop and lecture rooms, as well as rooms for parents with children. The first floor, in turn, is an open space, including to the square in front of the building, which was achieved by introducing glazing extending from ground level.
Administrative and didactic building in the courtyard of Warsaw University
design: 22Architekci
the most important thing is a good plan
The construction of the building cost the university nearly PLN 32 million, which was spent under the "University of Warsaw 2016-2025" Multi-Year Program. This is one of the 14 investments planned under this program - the Neophilology and Applied Linguistics building at Dobra 55(Kurylowicz & Associates) and the new student residence in Sluzewiec(Praga Project), among others, have already been built.
A building for the Psychology Department at the Ochota campus(Piotr Bujnowski + Projekt Praga) and an expanded student house number 5 in Służewiec(ARCHIGRAF Michal Brutkowski) will open soon. Other investments in the program are to be completed by 2027, including the construction of the UW Sports and Recreation Center(Lewicki Łatak) or a building to house the Faculties of Journalism, Information and Bibliology and Economic Sciences(BBGK Architects). In addition, the university has carried out a number of renovations and remodels. The total value of all investments is more than one billion zlotys. As part of the implementation of the program, the university held 5 design competitions for major investments, in which the works of important Polish architectural firms were selected. Such management of funds and space should serve as a model for other Polish universities - unfortunately, so far few of them use it.
