The Siemens tenement house is one of the most impressive buildings on Łódź’s most famous street.The effects are not yet visible, as the façade of the 108-year-old building is covered by scaffolding, but the intricate decorations of the front wall are beginning to emerge
The general renovation of the monument began with a thorough cleaning of the façade. Made of sandstone, the front façade was highly contaminated with dust and smog deposits that had accumulated on the stone for decades, over the years forming a layer of almost black dirt on its surface. This was removed using laser cleaning technology. This is a very effective and non-invasive method, as the laser beam does not interfere with the material, selectively removing only the exposed dirt and causing no distortion or cavities in the material
“We also had to resort to more traditional methods, as there were a lot of cement and varnish stains on the façade that needed to be removed mechanically. Laser cleaning also revealed a lot of stains left by rainwater running down the stone over the years. These had to be cleaned chemically. It was painstaking, but the effect is spectacular, as the front wall has regained the natural colour of the sandstone. – says Łukasz Juśkiewicz of VP Piotrkowska 96, which is renovating the building
The last touches of work on the façade will be the replacement of window frames and shop windows on the ground floor, which should be completed before the end of November. The second, much more serious phase of the renovation, which will take about two years, will begin at the turn of 2023 and 2024. The Siemens townhouse is to become an exclusive apartment building, and this will require a large amount of work. Among other things, the project envisages the elevation of all outbuildings, and the construction of an additional staircase in the one enclosing the property to the west
source, photos: UM Łódź / https://lodz.pl/
Read also: Architecture in Poland | Łódź | Metamorphosis | Tenement | Historic monument | Renovation
