Architects from the APA Wojciechowski Architekci office, known among others for its nominees for next year's Mies van de Rohe Award for the redevelopment of the Powiśle power station in Warsaw and the Riverview housing development in Gdansk, have designed an office complex in Krakow's Podgórze district - The Park Krakow, whose site, the designers assure, is intended to be an accessible and friendly place.
Eight office buildings will be built on a plot of land on Kuklińskiego and Saska streets, right next to the Kraków Płaszów train station, near the Bagry lagoon. As the investor, White Star Real Estate company, emphasizes, The Park Kraków complex wants to put people first - the area inside the project is to be excluded from vehicular traffic, and carefully selected greenery, elements of small architecture and restaurants, stores, fitness clubs and a kindergarten planned within the development will ensure a comfortable working environment.
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area inside the project to be excluded from vehicular traffic
© APA Wojciechowski Architects
Sounds promising, but the additional 100,000 square meters of office space (the entire premise will occupy about 5 hectares, of which more than 3 hectares are to be excluded from car traffic) at a time when many people still work from home, may raise some doubts. Is it rightly so? Architect Michał Sadowski, co-owner and vice president of the APA Wojciechowski studio, talks about the project and the solutions used in it.
Ola Kloc: Krakowskie Podgórze is developing very dynamically, how would you like your architecture to influence this part of the city?
Michał Sadowski: We believe that The Park Kraków project will change the perception of this part of Cracow - it will be a complex of office buildings, the way they are located in relation to each other or, in other words, their spatial composition results in the natural creation of a place - a public space between them, so that both the users of the offices, as well as visitors or local residents will want to use it. The carefully composed axial space consisting of a series of squares connected by streets with carefully composed greenery and small forms of architecture will become a favorite place. Very important in the project is the function of the first floors - well, all first floors are intended for public catering and service functions. It is the spatial composition and functions that will determine that the place will be people-friendly - it is commonly said that people vote with their feet... So how will our project affect this part of the city? It should definitely be considered in the category of reurbanization or brownfield revitalization.
Ola: The development will ultimately consist of eight office buildings, has the pandemic experience, during which many of the offices switched almost entirely to remote work, affected the project in any way? If necessary, will it be possible to repurpose these buildings?
Michal Sadowski: No, the pandemic has not affected design. It has been going on for six years, and the pandemic has been going on for a year, and we all believe that sooner or later it will end, and the project will be there for the next few decades... We did not anticipate a change of use of the facilities.
visualization of the space between office buildings
© APA Wojciechowski Architekci
Ola: Did you apply any and what kind of ecological solutions to The Park Kraków project?
Michal Sadowski: We used all available technological solutions in the project, both at the design and construction stages, so as to ensure that we met the highest pro-environmental standards possible in the construction of this type of office building complex.
Ola: What was the biggest challenge in this project, and what are you most satisfied with?
Michal Sadowski: The biggest challenge, which in my opinion we handled very well, was the use of subtly differentiated materials in the design (both in the interiors and on the facades), so that it is clearly legible that this is an ensemble of buildings, and at the same time each of them is a separate entity.
Ola: Thank you for the interview.
interviewed: Ola Kloc
What does the work of architects in the APA Wojciechowski team look like from behind the scenes? Join us for a guided tour of the nooks and crannies of the Warsaw office as part of last year's Open Architecture Studio Festival:
