Metropolitan, Pilsudski Square

Pilsudski Square (formerly Victory Square), the site for the new ‘Metropolitan’ building, is one of Warsaw’s most important public spaces. This huge square at the heart of the City, is rich in historical and cultural heritage. The seventeenth-century Saski Palace and the Baroque Brühl Palace that lined it were both destroyed in the Second World War but there are proposals to rebuild them. Large crowds congregate in the square to visit the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier; ceremonial events take place in it and local residents traverse it every day. The new ‘Metropolitan’ building occupies the northern edge of Pilsudski Square, completing its missing side and re-establishing the formal volume of the square. It attempts a sensitive response to a unique set of challenges posed by the historic nature of the Square, and developed through a continuous dialogue with the Warsaw historic monument conservator. The aim was to create a thoroughly modern counterpart to the neighbouring historical buildings -matching their height, massing and materials - without resorting to pastiche. The building extends to the perimeter of the substantial five-sided site, thus establishing an appropriate presence on the Square, but enclosing at it’s heart an open drum-like public space. This 50-metre diameter courtyard will allow the building to be permeable, maintaining pedestrian short-cuts across the site via openings around the building’s perimeter and providing an important social focus, a new public quarter without competing with the dignified quality of the Square. Cafés and restaurants line its edges, a dramatic water feature surrounded by a ring of mature trees is the focal point and a ring of light, cantilevered from the first floor, provides illumination for night-time dining and other activities. This is complemented by a gently glowing halo of light around the top of the building. The building’s façades are glazed from floor to ceiling to optimise daylight into the offices and to exploit the views over the Square and the surrounding historical buildings. The desire for a transparent façade had to be reconciled with the need for the building to have the apparent solidity of its neighbours. To achieve this the glazed façades incorporate vertical granite fins which, when viewed obliquely, make the façade appear solid but when viewed head-on gives it transparency. The fins add a rich texture to the façade, which changes as one moves around it. The ‘Metropolitan’ building has a mix of shops, cafés and restaurants at ground level with five storeys of flexible high-quality office accommodation, grouped in three separate but linked buildings. It is surmounted by a ‘set back’ penthouse level also given over to offices. The underground car park allows space for approximately 400 cars.

Client: Hines Polska
Consultants: Waterman International , Roger Preston & Partners / Roger Preston Polska, Townshend Landscape Architects, Equation Lighting , Arup Facade Engineering, Elektromontaz Rzeszow, Euromost, Polska, SAP