Bankers are leaving downtown! The last of the large banking edifices in Poznan's Liberty Square has closed. The building, which is more than a century old, will now be turned into an apartment building called Skarbiec. The project: the Tekktura studio. Despite some shortcomings and overcrowding, the investment promises to be interesting and city-creating. A side effect: the specter of gentrification.
Several grandiose banking edifices have been closed in recent years at Wolności Square - the heart of Poznań's inner city. A hotel was built in the former BGK bank. PKO BP Bank sold its "ancestral" headquarters - a modernist icon from 1937 (it is still unclear what will be in it). The City Bank Handlowy in the tenement after the pre-war Bank Włościański no longer operates.
The former BGK bank on Wolności Square in Poznań, now a hotel (after the 2022 reconstruction) - view from under the Arkadia building on Wolności Square
photo: Jakub Głaz
Now the last of the great financial edifices - the grand building on the corner of Wolności Square and Nowowiejskiego Street - has closed. Poznanians associate it primarily with the large electronic clock in the corner of the building. The large neon digits have probably grown even stronger in the consciousness of residents than the neo-Baroque edifice of 1911 itself, somewhat hidden behind two mature plane trees and the Arkadia building enclosing the square from the west.
The former bank at Wolności Square and Nowowiejskiego Street in Poznan - the appearance of the building with a working light clock
© investor material
In the last three decades, sizable signs of the banks currently occupying the building (WBK, BZ WBK, Santander, respectively) were also installed over the clock. The bankers served the building from its inception until this year. The new owner has now announced the bank's transformation into an apartment building with services on the first floor. It has been given the name "Skarbiec". The investor is Piotr Wit Voelkel (son of Piotr Voelkel), who heads the VOX Capital Group. The adaptation is expected to take two years (efforts to obtain a building permit are nearing completion).
"Treasury" - Visualization of the bank after adaptation to an apartment building - night view from under Arkadia
© Tekktura
from the front unchanged
How will the building change? The project for the revaluation and expansion of the building and the adaptation of the interiors was created by the Poznań-based studio Tekktura (Hanna Michalik-Tomczak, Maciej Tomczak, Tomasz Strzyżowski as well as Jacek Borzych, Wojciech Skowronek and Katarzyna Kozub-Paterczyk). Tekktura's concept won in a closed competition arranged by the investor for four architectural firms. The architects proposed eliminating the low banking operations hall, invisible from the square and the street, and transforming it into a small, partially greened courtyard. It will be surrounded by both the existing two wings of the building and the planned two contemporary outbuildings of the same height (currently their place is occupied only by low structures).
"Treasury" - A mock-up of the bank after adaptation to an apartment building, proj.: Tekktura
photo: Jakub Glaz
The project, which was developed in cooperation with a preservationist, envisages dividing the historic interiors into 36 apartments and - in the added volumes near the courtyard - realizing 20 two-room apartments with loggias (from 30 to 39 sqm) and two spacious "penthouses" with terraces. The first floor will include commercial premises, and the basement will be transformed into, among other things, a garage for 22 cars and a club-like meeting place for integration and recreation of residents of the old and new parts.
Despite the reconstruction, the edifice viewed from the square and Nowowiejskiego Street will almost not change. Almost, because the old clock will be replaced by a smaller and more discreet one. Leaving the timepiece is a nod not only to the Poznan residents who are attached to it today, but also to the pre-war times. The smaller luminous clock located in the same place can already be seen in a photograph from 1937.
"Treasury" - visualization of the bank after its adaptation to an apartment building - view from Wolności Square
© Tekktura
first and stately
With the exception of the clock, the edifice today is no different from its original form. It was slightly damaged during the war and repaired just after it in the same shape - given to it 113 years ago according to the design of Hans Uhl modified by Berlin architects: Richard Bielenberg and Josef Moser. The building was constructed for the East Bank(Ostbank für Handel und Gewerbe) and was the first banking building of this class and scale on Liberty Square. The facades of the two massive, four-story wings with a baroque character and detailing in the early art déco style were entirely clad in stone. The building also gained a dignified appearance from its symmetrical facade with a four-column portico of the main entrance and Ionic pilasters running in great order through the first and second floors.
The former bank at Wolności Square and Nowowiejskiego Street in Poznan - a fragment of the facade
© investor's material
Above the portico is a representative balcony adjacent to the grand fireplace room on the second floor, which has retained its original design and will become part of the largest 230-meter apartment. Its other rooms are also to have their historic appearance and details preserved. The remaining residential interiors in the historic section can be divided into small ones with a "medium area" of 29 sqm and larger ones ranging from 75 to 110 sqm. They will already gain a contemporary character consistent with the class and mood of the whole, among other things, thanks to the use of similar materials: high-quality wood and stone. The square meters of the small but very tall units (5 meters!) will be increased by the introduction of bedroom mezzanines.
Former bank at Wolności Square and Nowowiejskiego Street in Poznań - fireplace room
© investor's material
Common spaces: representative staircases, entrance hall and corridors will be changed slightly. Like the whole building, they are preserved in a very good condition (this is typical for edifices abandoned by banks) and - they are watched over by the city conservator of monuments (the edifice is listed in the register).
"Treasury" - Visualization of the bank after adaptation to an apartment building - the lobby; in the background, behind the door - the courtyard
© Tekktura
penthouse to the ridge
The most significant change, therefore, will be the elimination of the extensive bank operations hall, which over the years has lost its original and undocumented appearance. The small courtyard that will partially replace it will be reachable from the entrance hall. Adjacent to it on the first floor will be five service units with an as yet undetermined function. Decorated with two "islands" of greenery, the patio is to be open to the public - as are the surrounding services. There are plans to decorate the courtyard with art.
"Vault" - Visualization of the bank after adaptation to an apartment building - the courtyard enclosed by a new residential section
© Tekktura
The walls of the first floor surrounding the patio, in turn, will be clad with dark fluted concrete sl abs and are intended to relate freely to the historic facades and the pillars scheduled for removal that support the hall's now glazed roof. The same but light-colored slabs will cover the facades of the new outbuildings. The alternating arrangement of bright fluted "lisens" and loggia risers here will be a nod to the forms of the main building. It will also help visually offset the contrast between the heights of the floors of the old and new sections. The same height (to the cornice of the old edifice) houses four and five floors, respectively.
"Treasury" - Visualization of the bank after adaptation to an apartment building - the courtyard after enclosing the new residential part
© Tekktura
Two "penthouses" at the very top, covered with a flat but somewhat "stubby" roof, are in turn to reach the ridge of the bank's roof. According to preservationists' guidelines, they must not be visible from public spaces.
"Treasury" - Visualization of the bank after adaptation to an apartment building - apartments on the top floor of the new residential part
© Tekktura
The roof must also be free of any kind of modern installations. They will therefore be hidden in the enlarged basement, adjacent to the parking lot with a bicycle room (level -1) and a rest and integration area (level -2) created there. The latter will be created, among other things, in the room of a spacious vault with massive double walls (it is from this that the commercial name of the building was coined). The armored door leading to it with a historic hilt will be preserved. The interior, with billiard tables, chess tables, spacious sofas and armchairs, will be kept in a rather heavy club character, consistent, however, with the idea of a resting place for senior bankers. An intimate cinema room is also planned next door .
"Vault" - Visualization of the bank after adaptation to an apartment building
© Tekktura
how many thousands for the annex?
The redevelopment will also involve skillfully "packing" all modern amenities and required systems into the historic block. Elevators will provide access for people with disabilities to almost all places in the building, apartments are to be air-conditioned. The window woodwork will be completely replaced with modern, wooden windows in keeping with the original forms. Thermal and acoustic insulation levels are to be high.
The former bank at Wolności Square and Nowowiejskiego Street in Poznań - one of the dormers in the attic, view towards the south, in the distance the city's tallest skyscraper under construction
photo: Jakub Głaz
The prices of the units are also likely to be very high, although - despite our strenuous inquiries - the investor ultimately decided not to provide even an estimated price range. It is clear that "Skarbiec" (with a logo confusingly resembling that of the Sheraton chain) will be a high-end apartment building (ideal location, unique character of the building, valued investor). However, it would be worthwhile to juxtapose the price and the aura of prestige spread around the building with the detailed solutions. Not only the advantages enumerated here earlier, but also the questionable aspects. These include the small scale of the patio and, consequently, too modest distances between the building's wings (privacy and ventilation may be hard to come by). Also problematic is what - during the presentation of the project - was attempted to portray as a perk associated with living in a downtown full of restaurants and bars freeing you to cook at home. The issue is the almost universal kitchenettes in the units. In some of the apartments, they can't be separated as a room with a separate window (but the developer refuses to refer to them as dark kitchens). In the old part, for obvious reasons, the lack of a balcony or loggia may be a drawback (except for the aforementioned showpiece apartment).
"Vault" - Visualization of the bank after adaptation to an apartment building
© Tekktura
not too luxurious?
Nevertheless, the pioneering adaptation of a historic bank into a residential building in Poznan conditions deserves attention. Warm words are due for the willingness to open the first floor to all residents (let's add: who will be able to afford the services offered), care in developing the concept, and attention to the historical and unique character of the building. However, in a broader, urban perspective, the very luxurious nature of the investment may raise some concerns. Downtown Poznań is seeing an increasing number of very expensive apartments in renovated and converted buildings. These are sometimes very interesting projects (e.g., the adaptation of the Dom Książki office building described by us into apartments), but ultimately they will "push" less affluent residents out of the center.
The former PKO bank at Plac Wolności (now disused) - view from the west, in perspective - the modernized Hotel Rzymski (de Rome), in the foreground - the sidewalk, track and new trees after recent reconstruction
photo: Jakub Glaz
Recently, the transformation has intensified with the reconstruction and revalorization of downtown streets under the so-called Downtown Project (and the completed renovation of the Old Market) finally coming to an end. The city center is becoming more attractive and fashionable, which private investors will take advantage of without scruples. Meanwhile, the City, while carrying out renovations, has forgotten about the comprehensive revitalization measures declared years ago. Such, which are in line with the proper meaning of the word revitalization consisting of comprehensive infrastructural, social and economic renewal. The city center is threatened by rapidly advancing gentrification. Poznań recently announced its new promotional slogan: "you are at home." Some downtown residents will soon be unable to identify with it.
