The history of this project dates back to 2014, when the Court of Appeals in Wroclaw, in cooperation with the Wroclaw branch of SARP, announced a one-stage competition to develop a concept for its new headquarters on a plot of land surrounded by Piłsudskiego, Zielińskiego and Kolejowa streets, on the site of a former marketplace. Seven years later, in 2021, after the decision to go with the design awarded second place rather than first, a company was selected to build the long-awaited edifice.
The architectural competition was decided in January 2015. The competition jury, chaired by Boleslaw Stelmach, awarded first prize to the concept proposed by a consortium of Uberto Siola & Partners of Naples and PIW PAW Architects of Gdansk. Due to the lack of agreement between the parties, the design contract was signed with the winners of the second prize, Katowice-based Pracownia Architektoniczna Czora&Czora.
The jury awarded the 2nd prize for:
proper solution of the important in the landscape sequence of Jozef Pilsudski Street corner with Tadeusza Zielińskiego Street; proper solution of the program-space structure with separation of the part of the building dedicated to the courtrooms; interesting formal solution of the building's elevation with marking the entrance zone.
Building of the Court of Appeal in Wroclaw, view from Zielińskiego Street
© Czora&Czora Architectural Studio
Forming two frontages of the development quarter, the edifice will have five stories above ground and one underground (from Zielińskiego street) and four stories in the rear wing (from Kolejowa street). Composed of two parts connected by a glass connector, the body will be covered with bright, densely spaced, vertical elements that rhythmize the facade, reminiscent of a minimalist colonnade. Located on the side of Piłsudskiego Street, the shorter, glazed trapezoidal elevation will be slightly set back into the plot and emphasized by its monumental form.
Building of the Court of Appeal in Wroclaw, view from Pilsudskiego Street
© Pracownia Architektoniczna Czora&Czora
On June 25 this year, the tender for the construction of the building was won by Mirbud, if no appeals are filed regarding the decision, construction can begin after the contract is signed, and the edifice will be built within the next thirty-eight months, that is, in 2024 - ten years after the competition was announced.
An overview of the completed court buildings in Poland in recent years can be found here.
