Some of the most impressive tenement houses in the capital still stand at Unii Lubelskiej Square. They escaped serious damage during World War II and were luckier than buildings located in the city centre. One of them is the tenement house of Jan Łaski standing at 15 Bagatela Street
The modernist tenement house of Jan Łaski was built between 1911 and 1912, designed by the architect duo of Henryk Stifelman and Stanisław Weiss. The ground floor and first floor housed commercial premises. The top floor housed a café with the charming name of ‘Niespodzianka’, and the characteristic gloriettes crowning the tenement and dominating Unii Lubelskiej Square had small viewing terraces. From 1915 to 1944, the tenement housed the Gymnasium and High School of Janina Popielawska and Janina Roszkowska
Years 1933-1935, Plac Unii Lubelskiej – ceremony at the Monument to the Aviator. Source: NAC – National Digital Archive www.nac.gov.pl/
The tenement house escaped serious damage during the war. Damage was caused mainly to the roof and the aforementioned gloriettes. The property was rebuilt between 1946 and 1948, at which time the terraces were removed and replaced with round roofs. On 5 June 1995, the townhouse was listed in the Register of Historic Places under entry 1591-A. In 2016, a general renovation of the façade was carried out, including: the old plaster from the 1980s, incompatible with the historic architecture, was removed and new, smooth ones were made, and the colours approved by the conservator were applied, i.e. a light pink façade with stucco elements in white
The tenement during the post-war reconstruction. Source: NAC – National Digital Archive www.nac.gov.pl/ and whiteMAD/Mateusz Markowski
Source: discovercawarszawy.blogspot.com
Read also: Architecture | Tenement | City | Warsaw | Architecture in Poland
