"Back to offices!" thunders the titles of articles on online business portals. The office exodus, caused by the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, ended some time ago. Now, whether we want it or not, the process of reversing its effects is laboriously underway. Along with employees, in turn, the demand for office spaces has returned , but these must become even more comfortable, well-connected and framed by good architecture to compete with the convenience of the home office. In an attempt to meet these demands, JEMS Architekci designed for Archicom, AFI and Echo Investment the Office House, part of the Towarowa 22 complex. Will it be "like home"?
The development of the quarter between Towarowa, Prosta, Miedziana and Srebrna Streets, just off the Daszyńskiego Roundabout in Warsaw, has been talked about since the first decade of the 2000s. The process was accelerated by the liquidation of what was once the country's largest printing plant, Dom Słowa Polskiego, in 2010, followed by the demolition of the modernist complex 12 years later. In the meantime, the Jupiter shopping center operated there, and development concepts were created by renowned architectural firms, including the Bjarke Ingels Group studio. However, the owners of the plots, AFI, Archicom and Echo Investments, opted for a homegrown, more conventional (which doesn't mean: inferior!) design by Warsaw-based JEMS Architekci. The concept calls for the construction of an expanded complex, consisting of more than a dozen buildings with both residential, office and service functions. An occupancy permit has just been granted for the first of them - Office House. What will it attract employees in front of their desks with?
Office House Towarowa22 - design: JEMS Architekci
© Wojciech Gurak PR
Office House ready for work
Office House was built as a 9-story building on a plan similar to the letter "H". Its simple, elegant elevations consist of window panels sloping away from the outline of the foundations, preceded by prominent cornices of white architectural concrete. Some of them have been developed in the form of small terraces, obscured by balustrades and pots, which are expected to green up soon.
Office House Towarowa22 - proj.: JEMS Architekci
© Wojciech Gurak PR
In one corner of the building, cornices appear slightly further in front of the facade, and the resulting planes peek through with circular openings. The circle is a motif that is reflected throughout the building. Both on the roof (most of which is occupied by installations) and in the structure at the rear of the office building. Among other things, it is intended to make employees feel at home.
Office House Towarowa22 - design: JEMS Architekci
© Wojciech Gurak PR
break in the pergola
Inside the quarter, behind the main office building, a two-story semi-open structure was created to serve as a place to spend time relaxing during breaks from work. Without a doubt, it can be said that although invisible from Towarowa Street, the pergola is the highlight of the newly constructed building. The openwork, partly glazed structure is supported by elegant, tapering columns, with circles carved into the concrete planes, through which the sky looks into the building. At its center is a green courtyard.
Office House Towarowa22 - proj.: JEMS Architekci
© Wojciech Gurak PR
garden at the entrance
Greenery is an important element of the two-story entrance lobby, which, according to visualizations presented earlier, included a spiral staircase leading to a mezzanine. On it two conservatories, already full of lush vegetation, are planned. From the lobby one can walk to the service areas. These in the high, metropolitan first floor are planned quite a lot, and, as the investors assure, they already have their own, not uncommon tenants - Towarowa will have restaurants Splendido, Ato Ramen or The Brunchery.
RESTORATION
The development of the Towarowa22 quarter not only preserved the structures of the former printing hall of the Polish Word House. After the demolition of its buildings, quite a lot of rubble was left behind, which was used during the construction of new buildings. JEMS decided to use the demolition rubble to finish the interiors of Office House, where the aggregate was used in the construction of reception counters. The developer also promises to use the rubble in future buildings to be constructed as part of Towarowa22.
The space between the buildings of the complex is to be created primarily for pedestrian and bicycle traffic. The grid of streets, including the reconstructed Wronia Street, remains in the conceptual realm for now, but elements of paving, in this case clinker, are already appearing around the Office House, just as they were before the demolition of the Polish Word House. In line with the green concept for the quarter, the buildings are surrounded by a large amount of greenery - both new (e.g. Dutch elm) and pre-existing trees, flowerbeds and regular lawns. A total of 60 trees have already been planted.
Office House Towarowa22 - proj.: JEMS Architekci
© Wojciech Gurak PR
warsaw's eco-record holder
The developer boasts the highest level of energy efficiency achieved for Office House:
The building received the BREEAM Interim "Outstanding" certificate, with a score as high as 97.9%, historically the highest in Warsaw. Such a high rating makes Office House one of the world's best examples of sustainable construction. The office building is powered by renewable energy and uses waste heat recovery, which re-enters the city's district heating network instead of escaping into the atmosphere. [...] In addition, the office building will meet WELL Health & Safety certification guidelines proving that it provides a healthy environment to work in, as well as WiredScore and SmartCore, which confirm the best digital connectivity and technological advancement.
All of these accolades and high scores were achieved through a combination of modern technologies (smart system controls, RES power, or heat recuperation systems), as well as clever design decisions. As representatives of JEMS architects explained during one of the conferences dedicated to the project, the prominent cornices are not just ornaments of the building:
Along the elevations exposed to overheating, we designed rows of balconies, loggias and terraces with an overhang resulting from the analysis of the incidence of sunlight. The assumed width is sufficient to prevent the sun's rays from heating the floor in summer, while at the same time it is short enough to illuminate basically the entire tract of the building in winter
- proclaimed the content of the presentation.
The cornices will also have a positive effect on the movement of air masses around the building, which often cause problems for buildings of considerable height.
Office House Towarowa22 - proj.: JEMS Architekci
© Wojciech Gurak PR
park under steel girders
Work is currently underway to develop the remnants of the former printing hall, where the concrete ceilings of the rooms surrounding the main hall and the steel support structures that supported the hall's canopy have survived. The steel skeleton of the hall is already repainted - JEMS architects chose a yellow, "technical" color that will stand out strongly from both the greenery planned for the park and the subdued buildings that will form the fabric of Towarowa22 in the future. The preserved ceilings will carry lightweight pergolas, which will be covered with greenery over time, giving the site the character of a post-industrial, urban jungle.
A partial opening of the green space, open to all residents, is planned for this summer - during one of the project's presentations it was reported that it will serve as a place for temporary activities; breakfast markets, concerts or themed walks. The end of the work, on the other hand, is planned for the last months of this year, when tree planting, greening of the pergolas or making of the floors will be done. Will the finished park in the hall become an attractive space for Wola residents? In the future - certainly. However, it is worth bearing in mind that over the next few years intensive construction work will be carried out in its immediate vicinity, resulting in the construction of other buildings in the Towarowa22 complex.
Office House Towarowa22 - proj.: JEMS Architekci
© Wojciech Gurak PR
super quarter
There are quite a few plans for the Towarowa quarter, some of which are already underway. In the southeast corner of the complex, opposite The Form office building (designed by Epstein), the last floors of the M7 apartments are rising, and preparations are also underway for the construction of the Gutenberg Apartments, made famous by Archicom board member David Wrona, who during an April conference did not rule out that prices per square meter could exceed the PLN 100,000 barrier. In December 2024, Archicom also applied for a building permit for the construction of two skyscrapers that will be the high-rise dominant feature of the complex.
The Office House building is the first chapter of the metamorphosis of the site after the former printing house of the Polish Word House, of which we are the majority investor and developer. Later this year, in the quarter closest to Daszyńskiego Roundabout, together with Echo Group, we plan to inaugurate the construction of two new high-rise buildings. The elegant office building will reach a height of about 150 meters, and the adjacent residential tower will measure about 120 meters high. In parallel, by the end of next year next to Office House we will realize a new downtown park accessible to everyone
- says Grzegorz Jamroziak, Asset Management Director at AFI Poland.
There are to be a total of four or five skyscrapers, all located along Towarowa Street, rising higher and higher towards the north, where the Towarowa22 Quarter is already bordered by a district of skyscrapers where Warsaw Spire and Generation Park buildings (designed by Jems Architekci) are piled up. By grading the heights of the Towarowa buildings , a storied urban structure will be created , which will mitigate somewhat the sudden increase in height of the buildings on the west side of Daszyńskiego Roundabout.
Office House Towarowa 22 - design: JEMS Architekci.
© Wojciech Gurak PR
Will good Wola and one quarter be enough?
The whole, as the investor assures, will be an example of a so-called super-quarter, i.e. a modern district that creates safe space for pedestrians and cyclists, while at the same time performing the functions of a metropolitan urban fabric. The center of gravity of Warsaw's city center is moving inexorably toward Wola, and the creation of Towarowa22 is both a symptom and one of the basic elements of this process. The large amount of post-industrial land and the immediate vicinity of Downtown are conducive to the metamorphosis, which, however, is taking place mainly with the participation of the private sector. But is Wola as a district ready for such intensive development? At the moment, there is not even a proper pedestrian crossing at the height of the Towarowa Street development. The western, closest part of Wola to the center suffers from a shortage of high-quality public spaces. For ambitious projects like Towarowa22 to make sense, the city must at least match the level created by private investors. It would be good if they could also get ahead of them.
