This is another installment in the history of the modernist housing estate. “Szpiegowo” in Warsaw was taken over by the city from the State Treasury. The Mayor of Warsaw announced at a press conference that the complex will be renovated and made available to residents, but the two buildings on the street side will be demolished. New buildings will be constructed in their place.
“Szpiegowo” is the colloquial term for the housing estate at 100 Sobieskiego St. It contains more than a hundred flats that have been abandoned for decades. The modernist complex was built for the employees of the offices of the commercial councillor and the USSR embassy. Architects Piotr Sembrat and Janusz Nowak worked on its design. Engineer Andrzej Krawczyk was responsible for the structural part. The characteristic parts of the building are the cascades and the clearance in the central part, which is closed at the top with a space of two storeys. At its highest point it has 11 storeys. It was completed in 1978, when the first residents moved in. The People’s Republic of Poland in Moscow was to receive similar buildings for its residents. The relevant agreement was signed by Edward Gierek in 1974. However, the Polish side never received such properties in the USSR capital. The block in Mokotow had been abandoned since late 1989. The Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs had been seeking to acquire the property for years. This came about in 2022.
I am very happy about this, that instead of the criminal regime, this building will finally be able to serve the people of Warsaw and Warsawians, because it is in a way a symbol. Once again, many thanks to the governor and to the government who finally decided to hand over this building to the city and to all those who worked for months to go through the property metre by metre, to do thorough analyses and documentation, ” said Rafał Trzaskowski, Mayor of Warsaw, during a press conference on Monday.
The city has been given the rights to the building, but has pledged that 40 flats from the City of Warsaw’s stock will be given to police officers and their families.
The complex at 100 Sobieskiego Street has a total area of 7,000 square metres. There is no historical technical documentation of the building in Polish hands, so there was a problem in determining the scope of the renovation work. Among other things, it is necessary to restore all installations, make utility connections, replace windows and doors. The building also needs to be insulated.
Two buildings on the street side, however, will be demolished, a set of auxiliary buildings and the former officers’ club. They will be replaced by a new building with up to six storeys and 70 residential units. The dates for the demolition of some of the buildings and the start of the renovation of the complex are not yet known.
What could ‘Spyhouse’ look like? Less than a year ago, we published the bold concept of the architects from the MJZ office, who prepared the concept of changes. We published visualisations in an article here:
Słynny mokotowski blok jako oaza zieleni. Oto wizja autorstwa biura MJZ
photo by Cezary Warś
source: Warsaw City Hall
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