Kolonia Zgorzelec located in Bytom – Łagiewniki is undergoing advanced revitalisation work. There is no longer a trace of the vacant buildings that until recently haunted the area. A total of 14 buildings are being renovated. For the most part, the buildings have been lifted from total ruin. The derelict familokas required the replacement of ceilings, roofs, chimneys and rectification, i.e. straightening. Work on some of the buildings is now complete and the results can be admired
The building of the former bakery and laundry at Kolonia Zgorzelec 31 will also get a second life. A procedure is underway to amend the design documentation, which is necessary to give the building a residential function. External funding is planned for the renovation of this building
Archive of the Municipal Office in Bytom/ Photo: Hubert Klimek and Arkadiusz Janocha
The scope of work included not only structural work, renovation of the façade, replacement of window and door frames while maintaining their original appearance, but also the construction of new installations inside the buildings. As part of the entire project, a total of 40 units are being created in 13 buildings. All work is being carried out in agreement with and under the supervision of the Silesian Regional Monument Conservator in Katowice. Intensive work is also underway at the estate to develop the areas around the buildings. The concept of giving a new face to the hitherto empty and forgotten areas between the tenement houses was developed by the Adrian Gajda Design Studio. A real living space for the residents was created. As part of the investment, the contractor is building, among other things, a sports square and new pavements. Small architectural objects and greenery planting will complete the project. The area will be illuminated and architectural barriers will disappear. In the central part of the estate, an information board on its history will be erected, whose shape will be reminiscent of a klopsztanga, i.e. a fence – once an inseparable element of Silesian squares
An example of the effects of the renovation. Photo by Yarl, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons and the Bytom City Hall Archives/ photo by Hubert Klimek and Arkadiusz Janocha
The project was carried out under the supervision of, and in collaboration with, the Silesian Provincial Conservator of Monuments, the Municipal Conservator of Monuments, as well as ZBM and Bytom Housing, which allowed a coherent vision to be developed that was within the financial and utilitarian framework of the investment. The co-authors of the project are: Patrycja Horzela, Wojciech Tyczka and Mateusz Jaromirski. The total value of the investment is PLN 39 million, of which EU funding is PLN 30 million. The investment is planned to be completed in 2024, and the development of the Kolonia Zgorzelec 31 building – if external funding is obtained – in 2025
Kolonia Zgorzelec in Bytom – Łagiewniki was built between 1897 and 1901 for the employees of the nearby “Hubertus” steelworks, later known as “Zygmunt”, which belonged to the Tiele-Winckler family. The workers’ housing estate, consisting of 37 brick buildings (so-called familoks), was built in the historicist style. In 1922, after the division of Upper Silesia between the reborn Poland and Germany, the workers’ housing estate found itself within the borders of the Second Polish Republic, and the entire estate was taken over by the joint-stock company “Godulla”, which leased premises in the buildings to industrial plants in the area until 1945
Archive of the Municipal Office in Bytom / photo: Hubert Klimek
The Zgorzelec Colony is a very interesting example of construction. It was built before the introduction of the so-called Prussian Settlement Act, but was not rebuilt later and therefore today constitutes a unique form of residential construction from the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. The colony was not built in the vicinity of a large industrial plant, as is the case with other workers’ colonies in Upper Silesia, but was located on the outskirts, which was also important for the later preservation of the architectural form of the building complex
In 1994, the Zgorzelec colony was entered in the register of historical monuments, being not only a very valuable example of a preserved urban and architectural ensemble, but also an example of more than 100-year-old buildings, which were built for the workers of the “Hubertus” steelworks
Source: Bytom City Hall
Read also: Architecture | Facade | Metamorphosis | Estate | Renovation | Monument | History | Bytom
