Another original project has been prepared by architects from Szymon Januszewski's Insomia studio. This time it's an intimate, high-density housing estate "Murawa 2" next to Poznan's Citadel park. At first glance, the project resembles the award-winning Nowy Strzeszyn estate from the same office. However, there are several significant differences.
The new estate from Insomia is sixteen two-apartment low-rise buildings with original forms. The small enclave will be built in the vicinity of single-family housing, on the site of a demolished commercial pavilion between Murawa, Winogrady and Gromadzka streets (view from before the demolition on Google map satellite image: here). The location is special: less than 200 meters from the plot is one of Poznań's largest parks - the Citadel. Meanwhile, next to it stands a complex of successful intimate office buildings Murawa Office Park. The simple light-colored "cubes" with a timeless form were built a decade ago, designed by Wojciech Grabianowski of the RKW Rhode Kellerman Wawrowsky studio. The realization was honored with the Jan Baptista Quadro award for the best Poznań realization in 2011, while Insomia received the award last year for the exceptional quality of the Nowy Strzeszyn estate (more: here) realized by Area Development (also responsible for "Murawa 2").
Murawa Street, Poznań, Murawa Office Park office buildings (proj. RKW).
photo: Jakub Glaz
greenery instead of a pavilion
In addition to Nowy Strzeszyn, Insomia has a track record of successful residential projects of various types: from seals in old neighborhoods, to an original building with greenhouses on balconies on Bukowska Street, to a sizable "Botaniczna" estate. The dense "carpet" buildings of New Strzeszyn, meanwhile, were built in a birch grove saved by the architects. At Murawa Street, three-story houses will also stand densely, and the estate is to be saturated with greenery: both between buildings and on walls, terraces and roofs. However, there are far fewer preserved trees than in Strzeszyn, because most of the plot was occupied by a commercial pavilion. Szymon Januszewski therefore notes that:
The plot, which has been almost completely concreted over until now, will be transformed into an intensely green residential enclave.(...) Importantly, it will be characterized by the openness of the common spaces.
The architect also reports that the crowns of the few preserved trees have been subordinated to the form of the buildings next to them. Wherever possible, the surfaces of the plot are to have mineral permeable surfaces. Parking spaces will be underground and on the periphery of the premise.
Development at Murawa and Winogrady Streets in Poznań - visualization, proj. Insomia Szymon Januszewski
© Area Development
exorbitant costs
A distinctive feature of the development will also be the varied forms of the simple but original buildings exposed in an interesting way at the intersection of Murawa and Winogrady streets. The enclave also has a chance to be an interesting counterpoint to the disciplined office buildings of RKW. As in Strzeszyn, the facades here will be covered with wood and plaster, with plants climbing over them. However, a different, slightly more industrial character will be given to the walls by trapezoidal sheet metal cladding.
The sixteen buildings will contain apartments of varying sizes: from 53 to 115 sqm. and therefore larger than in Strzeszyn, where designers wanted to combine the advantages of an apartment and a house with a garden. On Murawa the units will be one- and two-story. Most of them will feature living rooms two stories high. Each unit will be assigned a garden An external staircase of original form and, also, elevators will lead to the apartments located on the upper floors. This is because the investment at Murawa is to be of a higher standard. In addition to elevators, it will include underfloor heating, electrically controlled awnings on terraces and loggias, and high-quality, energy-efficient wooden windows.
The site of the former commercial pavilion, Murawa Street, with the Murawa Office Park office buildings in the background (designed by RKW).
photo: Jakub Glaz
Thus, this is a higher-endinvestment. The price is also boosted by the location: adjacent to a park, and very close to the center, which can be reached in 10 minutes by streetcar (the stop is right next door). On the other hand, the necessary retail and service infrastructure is provided by the facilities of the modernist estates of the Winogrady district, located a block away. Both the much higher price and location also distinguish "Murawa 2" from Nowy Strzeszyn.
Making full use of the plot's real estate potential in an urbanized area with excellent public transportation is, in our opinion, the right direction to reduce the trend of urban sprawl in Polish cities, says Januszewski.
We are to see how this idea will be realized in less than two years. The investor announces the completion of "Murawy 2" in the last quarter of next year.
