The only surviving wooden building in Old Praga will be saved. The building, at the request of the City of Warsaw, has been awarded a grant from the Government Programme for the Reconstruction of Monuments. The Burke outbuilding at 26 Kawęczyńska Street is unique in the contemporary cultural landscape of the Praga district, being a relic of the wooden buildings of the district. It has survived unchanged for more than 120 years, preserving much of its historic substance.
The results of the second edition of the programme were announced in September 2023. Three Warsaw monuments received the following funding:
Burke’s Oficyna – PLN 3.5 million;
Elizeum – PLN 3.5 million (phase 1);
Bema Fort – almost PLN 1.5 million.
The single-storey rental house was built around 1890 by Edmund Burke. It formed part of a residential complex, of which only one building remains today. The building has a pitched roof and wooden ornamentation in the attic belt and under the parapet cornices. The wall on the street side is blind. After the Second World War, the outbuilding became a municipal house. In 2015, the building was entered in the register of historical monuments as a relic of residential wooden architecture and one of the few material testimonies of the former building form of Prague. It is one of two wooden residential buildings from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries preserved in Praga-Północ (the other is located at 9 Środkowa Street). The last tenant moved out of it in 2016.
In January 2021, due to the deteriorating condition of the building, a protective renovation of the clog was carried out, but this was only emergency work. Vertical insulation of the foundations was then installed. The foundations and rotten parts of the wooden structure were replaced. Threatened ceilings were propped. Internal tie-beams were made to tie the façade and gable walls together. The two outermost chimneys that were in danger of collapsing were also demolished and the two central chimneys were reinforced with steel clamps. The Office of the Capital Conservator of Monuments supervised the preservation work. The work was carried out by Zakład Gospodarowania Nieruchomościami Praga-Północ. Now, the unique monument will be given a second life and will become another unique attraction in Praga. Construction work on the outbuilding is due to be completed in 2026.
Source: WarsawCity Hall
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