Former railway station in Pławna transformed into village hall

Opened in 1885, the former railway station in Pławna Dolna in the municipality of Lubomierz underwent a metamorphosis. The dilapidated building was renovated and a meeting centre for the local community was created inside. The design for the changes was prepared by a team of architects: Krzysztof Grześków, Bartosz Bubniewicz, Maciej Osiński.

The dilapidated building belonged to the Polish State Railways (PKP). The inhabitants and Lubomierz Municipality came to an agreement with the railwaymen, who agreed to donate the building to the local community.

Work on the redevelopment project was preceded by an on-site inspection, which the architects had already carried out in 2014. It was then that the municipality took the decision to redevelop. It took six years from the completion of the design and the granting of planning permission to the start of work.

During this time, everything changed, including with the technical condition of the building and with our approach to design and to historic details. We started to pay more attention to not destroying something than to adding something. I think it worked out quite well, largely thanks to the understanding of the contractor, who clearly has a love of history,” explain the project’s authors.

The railway station at Pława Dolna was thriving until 1945. From then on, it began to fall into disrepair, and successive railway connections were suspended. In 1996 the last Lwówek Śląski – Lubomierz connection was closed. The track was also removed and replaced by a cycle path in 2009. This solution is intended to encourage cycling, and the opening of the community centre itself means that events will be able to take place here, benefiting not only the inhabitants of the village, but the whole region.

Move the slider BEFORE and AFTER:

The design of the alterations included cleaning the sandstone walls, repairing damaged structures and restoring the building to its late 19th century state. The railway signal box was retained and cleaned and painted to adorn the space.

The restoration work took a year to complete and the official opening of the building took place on 30 June 2023.

design: Rewizja Grupa Projektowa – Krzysztof Grześków, Bartosz Bubniewicz, Maciej Osiński

photos: Maciej Lulko

Read also: Railway station | Metamorphosis | Elevation | Culture | whiteMAD on Instagram

Latest content on the site

Beauty is all around you