On April 9 the results of the competition for the design of the new headquarters of the City Hall of Lodz and the development of the New Center Square became known. The new City Hall would bring together in one place the various offices of the magistrate, currently scattered in twenty-three buildings throughout the city. The competition for one of the most important buildings in the city, according to Marek Janiak, the city's architect and chairman of the competition jury, was an invitation to discuss what a modern city hall should look like.
competition
Lodz authorities have announced a plan to build a new office building, and it's hard to argue with the validity of the concept. A dispersed office, however interesting, is hardly practical, and the construction of a public edifice may provide a unique opportunity for a public discussion of the role of architecture in the city," Błażej Ciarkowski wrote last October in the series City on Purpose. - The 70-meter-high office building in the New Center of Lodz is thus expected to become a way to increase efficiency and save money. It will provide a boost to revitalize the area around the Łódź Fabryczna station, he added.
The new headquarters of the Łódź office, to be built in the area of the New Center of Łódź (bounded by Kieślowskiego Street to the north, Hasa Street to the south and Scheibler Family Street to the east), according to the competition regulations, would have about 15,000 square meters of office space, workstations for about 1,500 employees, a residents' service room, meeting and conference rooms and representative offices. The first prize was awarded by the competition jury to the proposal of architects from the DRAFT, LUMIOO, PROJECT OFFICYNA and AMP studios for:
the particular inclusion in the symbolism of the architecture of a reference to the historic New Town Hall on Liberty Square, with which it builds a buckle between modernity and the beginning of industrial Lodz; the clear, appropriate scale, definition of the shape of the NCŁ market in its northern and eastern frontages; financial and investment feasibility through sensible and creatively used prefabrication and reference to the architecture of the City Gate.
on the wave
Architects from the KXM studio also submitted their work to the competition. The leitmotif of the concept became a double wave, a form symbolically referring to the dynamic development of the city and drawing on the organic shapes of the art of Katarzyna Kobro and Władysław Strzemiński, artists associated with Lodz.
elevation
© KXM
The main idea of the project is based on taking advantage of the difference in levels between the New Market slab and Krzysztof Kieślowski Street. They have been seamlessly connected through a double wave formed in the base of the building, which allows the free flow of people from the level of the train station to the City Hall and the office area. The form of the city's staircase molded into gentle shapes encourages people to use the public space and delineates public areas. Gentle curves improve the urban scale and direct more light to the lower walkway. The designed geometry of the building clearly emphasizes the building's two key functions - the residents' service room and the City Council, the project's authors write.
axonometry
© KXM
Theorganic brick base of the building contrasts with its subdued, modern upper part - the simple structure of the office building and the council building is formed by a building composed of two masses of different heights. The whole, according to the designers' assumptions, is supposed to symbolize at the same time a good organization of power structures (at the top) and openness to residents (at the bottom).
The architects planned the residents' service stations in the spaces of the first floor and the internal mezzanine. The main entrance for residents was located on the side of the Market Square, making it the most representative and most exposed space.
View of New Market Square and City Hall
© KXM
The New Market provides a foreground for the Authority building and is intended to be an open space for cultural events. In the land use design, the architects took into account the urban axis of Market Street and the connection to the projected woonerf under the new Soho.
Consistent with the base of the building, the palette of materials allows for the impression that the City Hall facade is not the boundary of the square. The space transitions to the main lobby and finds a connection with Krzysztof Kieślowski Street thanks to a smooth, point-like lowering in the form of urban stairs. Greenery and elements of small architecture are not permanently tied to the ground, providing freedom in arranging the square, organizing various types of events, and creating temporary art installations, the project's authors write.
schematics
© KXM
The lower block housing the New City Hall was designed on a structural grid of 8.1 × 8.1 meters, providing the opportunity for flexible shaping of the interior space. From the +1 level it is possible to access the green terraces and the passage to the City Council building, which, according to the competition, encloses the frontage of the square.
Raised above the square's slab, the building stands out with its minimalist form and signals that the mass is dedicated to a special function. An important assumption of the concept is the exposure of the City Council meeting room, which emphasizes the transparency of the authority and its symbolic proximity to the residents," write architects from the KXM studio about the City Council building.
The height dominant of the whole establishment is the office building, whose separate communication core and separate lobby guarantee independence from the City Council building.
The office building; view from Grohman Avenue
© KXM
sustainable development
Architects from the KXM studio used CLT cross-laminated timber construction for the above-ground part of the project, as well as technologies to reduce the building's energy requirements. The designed facade consists of prefabricated panels with an integrated solar control system. Part of the building is covered with an extensive green roof, which will reduce overheating, a roof rainwater retention system is also envisaged, to be stored and used to irrigate vegetation and flush toilets, and a deep-sea heat pump will be used to reheat the building. The designers also planned mechanical ventilation systems with heat recovery, photovoltaic panels , and took care of bicycle infrastructure.
axonometrics
© KXM
It was also important for us to look at the building in a decades-long perspective. In an era of dynamic changes in work mode, human interaction, or increasing digitization, the City Hall facility must above all be flexible. The modular structural grid and the use of universal design standards for office buildings make it possible in the future to convert some of the spaces occupied by the authority's departments today into spaces for rent. Should the need arise to reduce the number of front office positions, nothing prevents the mezzanine on the first floor from becoming a public library or an entrepreneurial hub, where young people will have the opportunity to develop their business idea. In our understanding, the presented concept is only and as much as a solid base for changes that will certainly be necessary in the future," the architects conclude.
