It is more than a century old and after years of closure, it has come back to life. Betonhaus, the historic Concrete Hall and one of the Hugger’s Brewery buildings, have been renovated and opened to the public. It is now a new meeting place to discover Wilson Park from a new perspective.
The building complex is located next to Wilson Park, in the historic Lazarus district a few hundred metres from the Central Station. Made of reinforced concrete, the Concrete Hall was built in just six months at the turn of 1910 and 1911. The builders had to hurry because the hall was to be part of the East German Exhibition of Industry, Crafts and Agriculture, which opened on 15 May 1911.
The Concrete Hall of the Silesian Concrete Building Association is 1,000 square metres in size; inside, the richly decorated hall with a cradle vault is impressive. The hall faces the park with its façade and rectangular risalits on the sides. The building was used during the General National Exhibition and pianos and organs were exhibited there. After the First World War, the Department of School Hygiene and Theory of Physical Education of the Piast University, and later the Academy of Physical Education, operated inside. However, there was a lack of funds for renovation work, which has only now been carried out.
The renovation work took two years and was carried out by the conservation company MD Kons. Interestingly, during these works, many shortcomings of the early 20th century builders were discovered.
The design for the redevelopment of the building was prepared by the CDF Architekci team. The architects’ task was to highlight the historical qualities of the Concrete Hall and the Hugger’s Brewery building and adapt them to their new functions. A link between the buildings was also constructed. The architects designed the new elements in such a way as not to interfere with the historic character of the building.
The already open buildings have now become a meeting place. The Petit Paris restaurant, the Black Crocodile and the Medusa restaurant will open soon.
photos: Przemyslaw Turlej
design: CDF Architects(https://cdf.net.pl)
source: perfumiarnia.wparkuwilsona.pl
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