This is a new project by the Design Lab Group studio. The green skyscraper is to be built at 15a Mickiewicza Avenue in Łódź, right next to the famous ‘unicorn stable’, between the Writers’ House and the Central Department Store building. It is a residential and commercial building with 23 storeys.
The construction is being planned by the Lodz-based A&A company under the provisions of the ‘lex developer’ housing speculative law. At the beginning of July, an application for the designation of the location of the investment was submitted to the Łódź office. According to the law, local authorities must give their consent to the construction of a project that does not comply with local law. This is the case here – the green skyscraper is higher than the provisions of the Study of Conditions and Directions of Spatial Development of the City of Łódź.
The Green Skyscraper was the third tallest building in Łódź. It is only surpassed by the Hi Piotrkowska building and the Archcathedral Basilica. The plan is to build on the plot at 15a Mickiewicza Avenue. Today, there is a four-storey office building and two small commercial buildings on this site.
The new high-rise building would provide a counterpoint to the nearby Hi Piotrkowska building and emphasise the importance of the city’s main thoroughfare. A kind of gateway to the centre from the west would be created.
The proposed building is located in the direct vicinity of the tenement house at 15 Mickiewicza Avenue, one of the two Ender brothers’ tenements, for many years serving as the Writers’ House in Łódź. This tenement house is listed in the Municipal Register of Historical Monuments. In order to harmoniously blend in with the existing buildings, the building was divided into two parts. The lower part corresponds in height to the neighbouring building.
The northern elevation is an extension of the existing frontage along Mickiewicza Avenue, which contributes to urban coherence, reinforcing the continuity of the urban space and emphasising the historical character of the development. The designed building fills in the chaotic space of the car park, package stores, kiosk and patches of green space. It closes the foreground created by the withdrawal from the frontage of the “Central” service building, creating an attractive public space with services, orderly greenery and small architecture. In addition, it enhances the attractiveness of the existing walkway between Mickiewicza Avenue and the buildings located on the south side,” describe the architects from the Design Lab Group.
The designers divided the body of the building into three parts: the lower part at the height of the frontage of the tenement house at 15 Mickiewicza Avenue, a stepped slit rising into the depth of the plot, and the upper part, which steps down towards the south. The purpose of the stepping of the building is to refer to the heights of the surrounding buildings – tenement houses, blocks of flats and high-rise buildings, which tidies up the chaotic surroundings of Mickiewicza Avenue and integrates various architectural forms.
The distinctive façade is intended to allude to the rhythmic division of the façades of historic townhouses. The rounded corner refers to the shape of the neighbouring building and closes off the open space in front of the “Central” building.
The manner of shaping the building is based on splitting its mass into two parts, which emphasises the height of the neighbouring tenement house at 15 Mickiewicza Ave. Maintaining the high ground floor, in the two-storey part with a service function, emphasises the metropolitan character of the building. Theuse of warm, natural materials, subdued colours and designed details refers to the rich architectural tradition of Łódź – add the authors of the project.
source: Design Lab Group
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