The new University of Warsaw building is located in the upper courtyard of the campus at Krakowskie Przedmieście. The body was designed by architects from the 22Architekci studio.
The news of the opening of the new building is significant because of the place where it stands. The university’s historic campus is filled with old buildings, so the construction of the new one was a challenge.
The new UW building has administrative and teaching functions. It will house the units that provide services to university applicants and those involved in the internationalisation of the University of Warsaw. The building will support students, doctoral students and staff from abroad during their stay in Poland.
The 22Architekci team designed the 1,400sqm edifice. The building has two floors above ground and an underground storey. It contains, among other things, ten offices, three workshop rooms capable of accommodating several people. In addition, the building has rooms for researchers, a lecture theatre with a movable wall, social rooms, a cloakroom, a multipurpose space and an open ground floor area.
We want all members of our academic community to feel as comfortable as possible at the university and to have the right conditions for studying and working. It is very important that students and doctoral students from abroad, but also foreigners working at the UW, can get the necessary information and assistance in important formal matters related to functioning at the university and staying in Poland. The concentration of units dealing with these issues in one building will make it possible to provide comprehensive support for foreigners at the University of Warsaw,” stresses Prof. Ewa Krogulec, UW Vice-Chancellor for Development.
The new University of Warsaw building has a simple form that complements the historic university architecture. The revitalised courtyard, virtually unused until now, features a tree-lined square. Benches and bicycle parking spaces are also available.
The new building, constructed on the site of a former printing works built in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and the revitalised courtyard provide new opportunities for the integration of the academic community. The amphitheatre-like staircase leading to the courtyard has already become a meeting place for students. The building is a modern minimalist block and has been designed to fit into the historic urban fabric, says Robert Grey, UW Chancellor.
The investment, which cost almost PLN 31.6 million, is part of the University of Warsaw 2016-2027 Multi-Year Programme, a comprehensive development plan for the university.
design: 22Architekci
photos: Mirosław Kaźmierczak/UW
source: University of Warsaw Press Office
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