The Poznan International Fair intends to erect an office building designed by CDF Architects. It will be the first time in a long time that MTP will have such a strong impact on the city's landscape with a new building. The building will stand in a prominent spot on Grunwaldzka Street adjacent to the exhibition grounds.
The MTP grounds are a sizable enclosed enclave on the outskirts of the inner city near the Central Station. Over the past two decades, the Fair has modernized or built from scratch most of the pavilions, mostly according to a design by Studio ADS. The new buildings adjacent to the streets bounding the fairgrounds were usually built in place of the old halls and - mostly - have facades of similar dimensions to their predecessors.
The only building that has dramatically changed the appearance of the fair from the side of the city is the entrance pavilion (the so-called eastern entrance) built in 2006 on the side of the Dworcowy Bridge. The heavily glazed structure obscured the view of the symbol of the fair, the pavilion with the spire. To a lesser extent, because on the less important Śniadeckich Street, in 2008 MTP changed the appearance of the area with a new facade of the so-called "four-pack, " i.e. pavilions united by a glass connector. That was the end of significant interventions visible from outside the fairgrounds.
Next to the Collegium
The fair continues to invest. More than a month ago they managed to start construction of a multi-level parking lot, the roof of which will serve as a public square with a cultural zone. MTP is finally opening up partially to the city. The square will be part of a new public walkway cutting through the Fairgrounds - a convenient shortcut between the station and Wilson Park.
Visualization of the H6 office building on the MTP grounds on Grunwaldzka Street in Poznan.
View from Grunwaldzka Street from the east side
© CDF Architects
The latest development at the fairgrounds is an office building called H6 connected to Hall 6 at the corner of Grunwaldzka and Swiecickiego streets. The 1960s modernist hall (designed by Henryk Jarosz, Jan Wellenger, Jerzy Liśniewicz) will be transformed and modernized. The CDF Architects studio, led by Karol Fiedor, is responsible for the entire project . Earlier, commissioned by MTP, the studio also designed the reconstruction and modernization of the iconic Arena Hall in Kasprowicz Park - outside the fairgrounds. Construction of H6 is expected to start next spring.
The taller and entirely new part of the project will stand in a prominent location on the frontage of Grunwaldzka Street next to the massive building of Collegium Heliodori Swiecicki (formerly Collegium Chemicum) completed in 1929 (designed by Edward Madurowicz, Roger Slawski). The historicized Medical University building dominates the space on the side of Grunwaldzka Street and is not directly adjacent to an equally tall building. The new H6 office building will change this situation. Its five floors will reach almost 22 meters. At a similar height is the attic of the corner of the university building.
Mock-up with inserted model of the H6 office building.
At the top of the photo - the fairgrounds, in the upper right corner - Collegium Heliodori, at the bottom - the development quarter between Bukowska and Zwierzyniecka streets. In the lower left corner - Bałtyk office building and Kaponiera traffic circle.
© CDF Architects
dialogue with razor blades
Designers from CDF Architects believe that the office building's volume will relate to the Collegium Heliodori and will not overwhelm it. This is also to be helped by a light glazed facade with fairly dense rhythmic divisions using deep aluminum razor blades of a color subordinate to the facade of the university building. This solution, applied to the four upper floors, brings to mind the facades of Poznań's Okrąglak, a kilometer away.
- This is a rather subconscious procedure. But also a dialogue with the nearby Bałtyk office building, whose authors also reached for razor blades. Our building is offices for rent, hence the free throw and the glass facades covering it. The razor blades are meant to add variety to it, and will also allow the building to be perceived differently when viewed at an angle from the street," says Bartosz Małecki of CDF Architekci.
The first floor, on the other hand, will be more massive, but also glazed, with a deep entrance arcade, lobby and space for food service. It will continue the forms of the adjacent Hall 6.
Visualization of the H6 office building on the MTP grounds at Grunwaldzka Street in Poznań,
New entrance to the rebuilt Hall 6 - view from Święcickiego Street
© CDF Architekci
From the side of Święcickiego Street, the façade of the two-story hall is to retain the features of the original version; among other things, the fluted concrete cladding will be preserved. The windows on the first floor will be significantly enlarged, and the openings on the first floor will receive uniform high glazing. As a result, the hall will integrate, perhaps strongly, into the quiet side street, where a new entrance will be built with forms consistent with the office building's razor blades. Besides, the entire building, open with glazing to the city, will stand in favorable contrast to the "fortified", almost windowless pavilions with which the Fair has enclosed Poznan streets.
The most dynamic will be the sculpted corner, partially set back topreserve the tree on the Grunwaldzka Street side. On the other, eastern side, however, deep loggias are foreseen. On the top floor, office space will give way in part to a spacious terrace. On the green roof, to its credit, there will be no view-damaging equipment or installations.
Visualization of an office building on the MTP grounds on Grunwaldzka Street in Poznań
Corner of Grunwaldzka Święcickiego street - view from Grunwaldzka street (from the west)
© CDF Architects
faith in analysis
The office building is probably a prelude to further fair developments. After all, skyscrapers may be built next to it, as allowed by the recently amended local zoning plan. If this happens, this part of the city will change dramatically. But also the office building presented here will quite strongly affect the appearance of the area. The view of the characteristic arch of the roof of Hall No. 6 will disappear, and the Collegium building will lose its low, but not very attractively built-up foreground.
MTP Hall No. 6 and Collegium Heliodori - view from Grunwaldzka Street from the east.
Photo: Jakub Głaz
Admittedly, the architects analyzed very carefully the impact of the office building on the surroundings, but it still seems that - despite its small scale - it will partially obscure the silhouette of the university and compete somewhat with its corner "tower". Perhaps it would be beneficial to dispense with covering the terrace with razor-shaped openwork. This, however, is a cursory opinion based on a few visualizations and photos of mock-ups, as well as the memory of the good but often somewhat overscaled realizations of CDF Architects in Poznan. What remains, then, is faith in the solid analysis of the architects, which is reinforced by the high quality of the design development.
