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Luxury brands, gangster skirmishes and delicious potato pancakes - the Klif Fashion House in Warsaw is 26 years of rich history. How has the diamond in the crown of the capital's shopping malls changed, and is its time coming to an end? What will be built in its place?
Klif Fashion House has stood on Okopowa Street in Warsaw since 1999. The name Klif has its origins in Gdynia, where the chain's first shopping center was built three years earlier. The name, which was chosen in a contest held in the pages of Dziennik Bałtycki, is not accidental, and refers to the actual seaside cliff near which the mall stood.
shopping with class and trepidation
Klif in Warsaw is one of the first shopping malls of its kind in the capital. Its first installment was designed by Tomasz P. Kozłowski, whose goal was to create a building reminiscent of a piano. This was influenced primarily by the white facade with black details, as well as the rounded shape of the building's body.
Klif Shopping Center in 2011
The building fills a plot of land between Esperanto and Okopowa Streets, on the side of which is a parking lot offering 400 spaces. Its northwest corner is dominated by a 16-story skyscraper - Klif Tower. Together with the shopping center, they stand out among the low-rise buildings set back from the wide, three-lane Okopowa Street.
The Klif was popular despite a gang-related shooting that took place at the mall in 2002. On the mezzanine floor of the Viking bar, around 3 p.m. on a Friday when the mall was full of customers, a masked man fired two shots at a table where gangsters associated with the Zoliborz group were sitting. The target of the gunfire was Tomasz Syga, alias "Komandos." Komandos managed to escape, but two of his associates died as a result of the gunshots.
Klif Fashion House and Klif Tower, 2025.
Photo by Cybular © CC BY SA 3.0 EN | Wikimedia Commons
Gangster skirmishes, however, did not deter Muranów residents from visiting the Klif. In 2004:
Several thousand invited guests stormed the stores and cafes in the normally intimate Clif last night. Discounts, contests and recitals awaited them until midnight. This is how a shopping center on Okopowa takes care of its best customers.
- reported the galerki.pl website in 2006.
However, the luxury nature of the facility became clearer with each passing year - as early as 2007, Internet users commented, " only the cream comes there " and "they unnecessarily bet on the most expensive brands. They lost a lot of customers because of it."
In 2009, Klif received the Grand Prix award for the best shopping center in Poland presented at the 8th Edition of the Shopping Center and Forum Awards. At the same time, however, customers increasingly pointed out that exclusive brands outnumbered more affordable stores. Perhaps that's why the renovation, which began in 2012, turned the Klif's piano facade into a diamond?
New facade, old customers
The Klif's renovation was preceded by a closed competition organized by the owner, PAIGE Investments, and the participants were tasked with highlighting the unique character by making it exclusive and unique. The winning entry was created by Group 5 Architects, which developed a facade made of corian - an innovative surface material for the time.
Klif Fashion House after renovation, 2014.
Photo: Adrian Grycuk © CC BY SA 3.0 PL | Wikimedia Commons
Our goal was to offer the Klif Shopping Center a new coat that would make it an architectural icon. Corian met the ideological and design goals as well as high aesthetic expectations. The fact that this is the first building in Poland with a facade made of Corian surface material was an additional challenge for us.
- Rafal Grzelewski, chief architect in charge, recounted.
The new facade was complemented by a black contrasting cladding, which accentuated the entrance areas on the southern edge of the building. It forms a backdrop for the glass storefronts, whose place was once taken by the McDonald's storefront.
The interior of the Klif was also modernized, with Marek Tryzybowicz and architects from Bose International Planning and Architecture responsible for the design. The Klif was the first gallery in Poland to use acrylic resin composite materials and natural minerals on such a large scale - it was from these that the new fountain with stage was made.
Klif Fashion House - interior, 2017.
Photo: Panek © CC BY SA 4.0 PL | Wikimedia Commons
Since 2013, customers have thus been able to enjoy more than 100 boutiques, including new items such as Gerry Weber and Tommy Hilfiger. Since 2014, the Klif Fashion House has offered not only free consultations by stylists, but also a concierge service.
A housing estate instead of stores?
Along with Dom Mody Klif, the 17-story Klif Tower office building was built in 1999 . After 26 years of operation, both are to disappear from the city's skyline and make way for a residential development.
visualization of the housing estate - Okopowa 58-72
© Yareal, press materials
The investor-Yareal Polska-announces the construction of eight buildings measuring from 5 to 11 stories, housing nearly 900 apartments, plus 30 commercial units, green squares and a kindergarten. The vision of the investment at Okopowa Street can be realized, but under the developer's lex procedure - neither the current nor the proposed local plan envisages multi-family development at the site of the shopping mall.
Visualization of the Okopowa 58-72 estate.
© Yareal, press materials
In September of this year, a dialogue about the investment was held with residents - the stage of the formal ULiM procedure, i.e. applying for a resolution on the location of a housing project with the city.
The planned housing development on the site of the Cliff would complete the fabric of a neighborhood rich in residential architecture. On the western side, the projected buildings are to form a metropolitan frontage. They will be separated from the busy and noisy Okopowa Street by high greenery. The spacing of the blocks located deeper into the plot, on the other hand, refers to the layout of the housing development on the opposite side of Esperanto Street. An extension of Miła Street and its connection with Okopowa Street is also planned as part of the project.
At the center of the designed establishment is to be UTWORS, a landscaped area for rest, recreation and sports. The closest large green area in the neighborhood is Powązki Cemetery, which, however, is separated from the main street by a high brick wall. The green area of the estate is to remain - according to the investor's assurances - open to the public and unfenced.
The trend of transforming shopping centers into apartments is evident in the United States, where at least 192 malls are planned to be transformed into apartments by 2022 alone. Will Warsaw follow in their footsteps, or is the Klif case unique?
