The tenement house at 28 Marcinkowskiego Avenue, which has been in the hands of the University of Arts in Poznań since 2014, boasts a refreshed façade and completely new interiors. After extensive modernisation, it now houses more than 2,000 sq m of exhibition, workshop and seminar space. The renovation began in 2019 and is now nearing completion. The project is worth just under PLN 25 million. It is co-financed by the European Union from the European Regional Development Fund.
The tenement house at 28 Marcinkowskiego Avenue was built in 1860 on the site of the previously existing Bavarian Hotel (probably founded by Gustav Schultz). The property belonged to the Warsaw Insurance Company. The building housed the Scheherazade cinema from 1922. After the renovation of the cinema in 1935, it was renamed Gwiazda. The last screening took place in 2003.
The University of Arts in Poznan planned to modernise the property after taking it over. The 2016 designs originally envisaged a major reconstruction and extension of the building, improving its technical condition and restoring it to its planned cultural and art education function. Once implementation had begun, it became apparent that the technical condition of the building had deteriorated rapidly in the meantime. Water seeping in over the years through the leaking roof had led to serious damage to the ceilings and all wooden elements. It became necessary to revise the design assumptions and develop a repair plan. As the building is located in a conservation area, the focus was on protecting the valuable elements, i.e. the façade and the internal staircase, which was in a state close to a building disaster. In the end, it was possible to protect the historic front elevation, and the staircase was rebuilt based on a 3D scan using the original woodwork and decoration.
As part of the work, a special steel support structure was installed to hold the façade and protect it from collapse and allow the work to continue. Its installation was carried out by hand, in the existing building after the foundations had been shored up and the gable walls reinforced. Only then was it possible to proceed with the demolition work, mostly carried out without heavy equipment. The next step was to build the foundation slab, rebuild the staircase and construct a completely new building structure. The design work was coordinated by arch. Maciej Kornecki and arch. Mikołaj Stępień.
The ground floor of the building now houses the UAP gallery, a showcase for the university, a place to exhibit the work of the university’s students and teachers. It is open to residents interested in art. The upper floors will house the art education programme, prepared by the Faculty of Art Education. There will be approximately 380 square metres of public space for visitors and more than 570 square metres of workshop and seminar space for art education. The temporary car park at the rear of the building will eventually be removed.
The project is co-financed by the European Union from the European Regional Development Fund under: Infrastructure and Environment Programme Priority VIII. Protection of cultural heritage and development of cultural resources. Project value: 24.675,896.44 PLN Value of ERDF co-financing: 11.062,904.02 PLN.
Contractor: Orlikon
Supervision: Demiurg
Photography: Tomasz Hejna LAGOMphoto
Source: Old Poznań Then and Now, uap.edu.pl
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