The townhouse at Zamkowa 8 in Bielsko-Biała has regained its shine and is dazzling again. Residents can now admire the restored façade of the 19th-century building formerly owned by Karol Miksch, which presents a French Renaissance style. The restoration work was subsidised by the Bielsko municipality.The architectural concept was created by ARCHICONCEPT studio Mikołaj Kowalczys
on 27 September, the gala of this year’s edition of the ‘Modernisation of the Year & Construction of the 21st century’ competition took place at the Royal Castle in Warsaw. The tenement house at Zamkowa Street won in the category of residential and commercial buildings. As we read in the justification of the verdict, the award was granted for consistent conservation and construction work, which led to the renovation of the historic tenement house at the foot of the castle hill
Zamkowa 8 after renovation. Photo: archiconcept.pl
First, the owner of the townhouse carried out conservation repairs to the roof, which included replacing worn-out elements of the trusses and laying a new covering of stone slate and sheet metal. This was followed by renovation of the façade, the hallway and the staircase, including insulation of the foundation walls. In the hallway, paintings were discovered under a layer of secondary layers of paint, which were painstakingly restored. In addition, the entrance doors to the building were renovated and the colour of the window frames was mostly unified. New windows were also installed in the glazed veranda at the rear of the building. The renovation has improved the technical condition and aesthetics of the representative townhouse. Both investments were co-financed from the budget of Bielsko-Biała. The local government contributed PLN 150,000 to the renovation of the roof, while further works were co-financed with PLN 550,000
The tenement house before and after renovation. Photo: archiconcept.pl and Wikimedia Commons – Licence: CC-BY-SA 3.0
The front door of the townhouse before and after the renovation. Photo: archiconcept.pl
The townhouse was built in 1897 for Karol Miksch called Allegri. Built in the historicist style, the building is an example of the application of the so-called French costume in the architecture of the city, i.e. the French Renaissance. The tenement house has a partly brick façade and a high roof with dormers with a very characteristic cast-iron balustrade. In the early 1970s, the authorities of Bielsko-Biała planned to demolish the 19th-century tenement house in connection with plans to widen the road to Szczyrk. In the end, however, the property did not share the fate of the castle bazaars known by locals as Wysoki Trotuar
Source: archiconcept.pl, bielsko.biala.pl
Read also: Architecture | Metamorphosis | Renovation | History | Architecture in Poland
