PKO Bank Polski has put its office building, located in the very heart of Warsaw at the junction of Marszałkowska and Nowogrodzka streets, up for sale. The asking price has reached as much as PLN 55 million. Are significant changes on the horizon for Śródmieście?
PKO BP Office Building
The building has two addresses: Marszałkowska 91/97 and Nowogrodzka 35/41. In its immediate vicinity are the Centrum metro station, the Central Station and the capital’s main transport arteries. The plot itself covers an area of approximately 0.2176 ha, whilst the building’s usable floor area is 11,946 sq m. The layout of the plot, squeezed into the dense fabric of Śródmieście, necessitated very intensive use of the available land.
Modernism and façade renovation
The building’s form draws on the modernism of post-war Warsaw. The compact massing, with a distinctly horizontal rhythm of storeys, was combined with simple geometry, without any prominent features. The ground floor housed retail and service outlets, whilst the upper floors were designated for a repetitive office layout. Over time, the skyscraper’s façade underwent a refurbishment, during which it was clad in smooth panelling forming a blue pattern. The new façade replaced the earlier vertical divisions resembling ribbing.
Construction on the corner of Marszałkowska and Nowogrodzka
Construction of the building was completed in 1970. During the works, foundations reaching a depth of around 8 metres were excavated, and over 11,000 cubic metres of earth were removed from the site. The design for the modernist skyscraper was developed by Zygmunt Stępiński in collaboration with Andrzej Milewski. The architects integrated their building into the frontage of Marszałkowska and Nowogrodzka Streets as an element complementing the surroundings, which were full of tenement houses, post-war infill buildings and other structures.
The PKO Office Building – the building’s history
During the communist era, the building housed the central unit of PKO’s Instalment Sales Service. The consumer credit system in Warsaw reached a scale of hundreds of millions, and later even around 0.5 billion zlotys of the time, with financing mainly directed towards everyday goods, including audio-visual equipment. The skyscraper is not currently listed in the register of historic monuments nor is it subject to the local spatial development plan, which leaves a wide range of possibilities for a future buyer.
Possible scenarios
The most likely scenario for the building is either its extensive refurbishment, retaining the existing structure and adapting it to new office standards or residential use, or its demolition and the construction of a new building on the site with a higher development density. The future of the former central unit of PKO’s Instalment Sales Service is not yet known, so we will have to wait for concrete details. We will keep you informed.
Source: architektura.muratorplus.pl, zyciewarszawy.pl
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