How many years can a building serve its function? It's futile to look for a single answer, but numerous examples of centuries-old buildings prove that the architectural life of a building can last not tens, but hundreds of years. It turns out, however, that the extremist Polski Holding Nieruchomości is going back to one of the plans it once put forward for the Intraco office building, Warsaw's first real office skyscraper. These are by no means optimistic plans - on Intraco's fiftieth anniversary, the decision was made to demolish it. What will stand instead, and is this surely the right direction?
The news, shocking to many, resounded during a conference held by Polski Holding Nieruchomości, Intraco's owner, on June 3, 2025. The message was conveyed at the time that despite many attempts to modernize Intraco, it is unable to meet the needs of modern users and must be demolished. In place of the iconic skyscraper is to stand a new one with an identical name, designed by FS&P ARCUS studio. The visualizations, which aroused mixed feelings from the public, appeared on PHN Group's social media profile:
The search for a company to handle the demolition is expected to begin later this year - so it looks like Intraco's fate is already sealed.
Intraco and Intraco Prime office buildings
Photo: Adrian Grycuk © CC BY 3.0 en | Wikimedia Commons
he once got away with it
These are not the first reports regarding plans to demolish the Intraco office building. Its current owner, Polski Holding Nieruchomości, tentatively tried to demolish the building as early as the beginning of the last decade, but speculation was seemingly quashed in 2016, when PHN announced that Intraco would be thoroughly modernized. It was then that the decision was also made to build a small "companion" for the Muran skyscraper - Intraco Prime. It was with this that Polski Holding Nieruchomości's plans began.
Intraco office building in Warsaw to be demolished
Photo: Cybularny © public domain | Wikimedia Commons
The investment, whose design was prepared by a consortium of Juvenes-Projekt and Pracownia Obsługi Inwestorów Pro-Invest, was completed in mid-2022, after two years of work. The new seven-story building was built on the site of the former Intraco parking lot, offering its users modern office spaces and a structure that meets high BREEAM pro-environmental standards. Next in line was supposed to be the original Intraco. However, as we know, the planned modernization never happened - instead, Polski Holding Nieruchomości opted for the demolition of the iconic skyscraper, whose face was changing as the center of Warsaw continued to evolve.
Intraco construction (1973-75)
Grażyna Rutowska Archive © National Digital Archive
symbol of the capital's development
Intraco was one of Warsaw's first skyscrapers. Its design was prepared by Swedish architect Peter Diebitsch, who won a competition held in 1973. Construction began almost immediately and already in 1975 Intraco rose to a height of 137 meters, becoming Warsaw's tallest skyscraper, except for the Palace of Culture and Science. Intraco did not hold this title for long, because just three years later Intraco II (also called Oxford Tower) was built at 8 Chałubińskiego Street, which reached a ceiling of 140 meters.
Intraco
Grazyna Rutowska Archive © National Digital Archive
Intraco, however, was forever established as a symbol of the capital's development. The office spaces housed the Foreign Trade Company "Intracom" from the very beginning . Foreign companies that could rent more than 30,000 square meters of office space also had at their disposal two restaurants, four conference rooms or a swimming pool. Doors were opened automatically, high-speed elevators were used to move between floors, and a parking lot for 200 cars was excavated underground. Although probably not everyone could afford to visit the restaurant or hair salon that were located in the office building on Stawki Street, Intraco's slender silhouette became part of the capital's skyline as an accent that proclaimed "to all and sundry" that the Polish capital was a modern city, ready for the challenges of the last decades of the 20th century.
Intraco office building in Warsaw
Photo: Radek Kolakowski © public domain + CC BY 2.0 | Wikimedia Commons
history of Intraco
Intraco, however, did not always look as "contemporary" as it does today. Although the way Peter Diebetsch designed the Intraco building is described as late modernism, Warsaw's first skyscraper was once not "all glass" at all, far from the New York skyscrapers of the time. Initially, each floor was encircled by longitudinal windows, preceded by fields lined with green ceramic tiles, designed by Prof. Miroslaw Duchowski, co-creator of the now-defunct elevation of the NBP building at Powstancow Warszawy Square. As many as 483,000 of them were used to finish the facade of the skyscraper. The green tiles, while pretty, were not completely trouble-free. After construction was completed, they quickly began to fall off, affecting the aesthetics of the building, but most importantly, the safety of pedestrians walking underneath.
The basement of the Intraco office building after the 2003 renovation.
Photo: Wistula © CC BY-SA 3.0 | Wikimedia Commons
Less than 25 years after the construction was completed, a decision was made to radically change the office building's image - Intraco donned a glass cloak in the form of a curtain wall, which gave it its current appearance. The renovation carried out in 1998-1999 caused Intraco not only to change its outer covering, but also to grow a bit - at that time one floor was added, where, among other things, a restaurant was located, a new sign informing about the name of the building was also created, and a spire stood on top of the whole structure.
PZU Tower in Warsaw
Photo: Panek © CC BY-SA 4.0
millennium purge
Intraco, however, is not the record-holder when it comes to Warsaw's newest skyscrapers slated for demolition. A similar fate awaits two other office buildings built in the last years of the last century. The first is a skyscraper that was known for its large Mercedes logo on top - Ilmet, standing at the UN Roundabout and designed by Miljenko Dumenčić and Mirosław Kartowicz will soon be replaced by the Warsaw One office building. Talks about building a new skyscraper to replace the older structure are also underway with PZU, which would be happy to get rid of the 130-meter PZU Tower on Grzybowska Street, designed by AT Architects and built in 2000. These are certainly not the last relatively young skyscrapers to go down in history. But is this surely the right direction?
Ilmet in Warsaw
Photo: Cezary p © CC BY-SA 4.0 | Wikimedia Commons
Is it surely impossible to preserve Intraco?
Modernization would probably not be the cheapest solution for the future of Intraco. However, as the voices of the architectural community indicate (vide Radoslaw Gajda's commentary for Wyborcza), it is not an impossible undertaking. Many Warsaw (and not only) projects have proven that modernizing office buildings is not only possible, but also makes sense. Among the most important office buildings in the capital, which have managed to give a second life, we should certainly mention those whose projects are the responsibility of Grupa 5, such as University Business Center II. Also currently under construction is the Flare Grzybowska apartment building (designed by BJK Architekci), which uses the structure of an earlier, unfinished residential building. Renovations and modernizations are not bypassing much taller buildings either - the renovated 144-meter-high Warsaw Financial Center opened its doors in April this year, and the renovation of Warsaw's Warta Tower, rising to 82 meters, is also expected to be completed soon.
Intraco skyscraper to be demolished!
photo: Cybular © public domain | Wikimedia Commons
From the point of view of efforts to preserve Warsaw's historic skyline (yes, Intraco has been standing in its center for half a century), and above all because of the environmental damage, the demolition of the fully operational, 50-year-old Intraco seems difficult to accept. Is this another example of wastefulness, on which not only the investor, but also the planet, and with it all its inhabitants, will pay the tax?
