Once there was here the first tartan surface in Poland, today - a ruin. The area around Warsaw's famous Skra, however, has changed a lot, but the road that led to this was long and bumpy. There were to be stararchitects, then there was a competition, and finally a tender was chosen - but it looks like the city won anyway, as the New Skra shines. Will it be suitable for an active weekend in the capital?
This story had its beginning more than 100 years ago, just after the end of the Polish-Bolshevik war. In 1921, Warsaw's Skra, or Sports Workers' and Academic Club, was founded as an expression of the workers'-students' alliance, initiated by Jerzy Michalowicz, a famous pediatrician, promoter of physical activity among young people, and PPS activist. Initially, club members developed their skills in boxing, fencing and soccer (Michalowicz himself belonged to the football section, by the way), training on Warsaw's green spaces and using the infrastructure of other capital's sports societies. The time of "wandering" did not last long, however, as Skra already in 1924 got its first stadium at 43 Okopowa Street, which enabled the club to expand its activities with other sections, including basketball or wrestling.
View of the Skra sports complex in the 1980s
photo: Lech Zielaskowski, National Digital Archive
The outbreak of World War II and the destruction it brought meant that nothing was left of the Okopowa stadium. However, this was not the end of the club, which shortly after the war, by decision of the Bureau of Capital Reconstruction, moved to Ochota, where a huge stadium was built at 5 Wawelska Street by 1953, designed by Mikolaj Kokozov, co-author of the Horticultural Headquarters Building in Warsaw, and Jerzy Wasilewski, co-responsible for the architectural concept of the Służewiec horse racing track.
first tartan in Poland
Near Pole Mokotowskie, the architects created a large athletics stadium, with stands supported by a rubble-concrete structure, capable of holding 35,000 people. Initially used as a speedway track, after renovation in 1969 eight running tracks were created there, lined with the first tartan surface in Poland. The space underneath the grandstands was also developed, with a hotel, canteen, sauna and regeneration room, gymnasium and even a Sports Museum. Additional infrastructure was also built around the stadium, including basketball, volleyball and rugby fields, tennis courts or a field for hammer and discus throwing. As early as the 1970s, the functionality of the Skra complex was expanded to include water sports, with the construction of a swimming pool complex.
Skra Stadium in Warsaw
Photo: robert.danieluk © CC BY-SA 4.0 | Wikimedia Commons
Stararchitects at Skra
Unfortunately, at the beginning of this century Skra Stadium's best years were behind it. Certainly, the disputes over the rights to use the site didn't help - for a while Skra's owners wanted to share the area with a developer who planned to build a housing development there. Recognized studios were involved in the project - from the Polish side it was Kurylowicz & Associates , which was to cooperate with Skidmore, Owens & Merill. The plans included the construction of three residential high-rises and the development of the area around the devastated stadium.
Skra Stadium in Warsaw in 2018
Photo: Adrian Grycuk © CC BY-SA 3.0 en | Wikimedia Commons
war over the stadium
Ultimately, a long-running court dispute arose between the site's owner and the city over the termination of the lease due to the disastrous state of the infrastructure. As the administrative court ruled, "the ruin of the sports and recreational facilities is the result of the way the lease has been exercised so far: the lack of necessary repairs and renovations." The court dispute dragged on for several more years, until 2021, but in the meantime the city was not idle, launching an architectural competition to determine a vision of what the Skra complex would look like in the future. In the fall of 2018, the jury, chaired by Marena Happach, selected the work of Alexander Wadas, Weronika Marek and Anna Odulinska from Gdansk, arguing as follows:
The jury decided to award the main prize to the authors of the project, which very successfully combined respect for the heritage, functional solutions for professional athletes, rugby players and other sportsmen using the facility, as well as amateur sportsmen, and an ingenious recreational program, while incorporating the sports complex into the whole open park program of Pole Mokotowskie. In the presented concept, all valuable elements of the establishment were preserved and new additions were designed based on the original compositional axes. [...]
A tender instead of a competition?
In the end, however, perhaps as a result of a protracted court battle, the implementation of the original plan did not materialize. In early 2022, the city announced a tender under the "design and build" formula, which was won by a consortium of Tamex Sports Facilities and Gardenia Sports. On April 27, 2025, after several months of work, the competition concept became a reality - the Skra Sports Center returned to the residents. How does Warsaw's newest public space for active leisure now look?
Nowa Skra sports center in Warsaw
Photo: Rafał Motyl © UM Warszawa
Nowa Skra shines
It's worth noting at the outset that the main facility of the complex, the Olympic stadium, has not been rebuilt - a task that was scheduled for a further stage of work. Instead, its surroundings have been completely changed - according to the winning design, the changes made to the surroundings of the Skra Sports Center emphasize the original development of the area, which totaled about 13 hectares.
The Nowa Skra Sports Center in Warsaw
Photo: Rafał Motyl © UM Warszawa
The most extensive work covered two areas - one located directly on Żwirki i Wigury Street, and the other, located south of Skra's main stadium, exactly on its axis, near Ondraszki Street.
Nowa Skra sports center in Warsaw
Photo: Rafał Motyl © UM Warszawa
six tracks
The new athletics warm-up stadium has become the most significant element of the first of these. It featured six running tracks with a high-class surface, surrounding a green turf, into which the long jump tracks are also inscribed. On the eastern side, grandstands capable of accommodating 500 people were created, and utility spaces were also built into their structure - locker rooms, toilets or rooms for the administrative activities of Active Warsaw. The exterior facades were clad in wood, and the entire structure was able to be inscribed into the varied levels of the site. The canopy of the building accompanying the stadium is paved, landscaped with flower pots and benches, behind which one of Nowa Skra's running trails stretches.
Nowa Skra sports center in Warsaw
Photo: Rafał Motyl © UM Warszawa
Nearby, to the north of the new stadium, new viewports have been built - places to train for the ball push, discus throw or hammer throw. A small square with trees and a plaza with a circular fountain to cool off was planned between the facilities.
Nowa Skra sports center in Warsaw
Photo: Rafał Motyl © UM Warszawa
The most picturesque element was located in the southern part of the developed area, on the axis of Skra's main stadium, which has fallen into disrepair. It was decided to raise the area there, with a small pond behind it.
Nowa Skra sports center in Warsaw
Photo: Rafał Motyl © UM Warszawa
Around it (and through it!), paths and wood-lined piers wind picturesquely. There is also plenty of greenery all around, both that which has grown here for a long time, as well as completely new plantings, including 350 trees. Retention, in addition to the use of mostly water-permeable surfaces, is also supported by rain gardens.
The Nowa Skra sports center in Warsaw
Photo: Rafał Motyl © UM Warszawa
activities behind the three mountains
It is the relief of the land that constitutes one of the more interesting changes that have taken place in the immediate vicinity of the main stadium. As part of the revaluation of the area that once belonged to Skra, it was decided to pave three hills in its southern part. Not only did they make the area north of Pole Mokotowskie more visually attractive and diverse - the hills will probably have additional functions when the warmer months pass and the now green grass is covered by a thick layer of snow. Then the cross-country paths will turn into cross-country ski trails, and sledding will be possible from the hills.
Nowa Skra sports center in Warsaw
Photo: Rafał Motyl © UM Warszawa
recreation with a high pulse
Plenty of small architecture for recreation - both the quieter and more active kind - has been scattered throughout the area. So in addition to numerous benches, walking trails and a chess table, residents can choose from an outdoor gym, a hurdle run or numerous variations on the theme of an obstacle course - stumps, a "zigzag" balance beam, slalom posts or a place to run up and down stairs.
Nowa Skra sports center in Warsaw
Photo: Rafał Motyl © UM Warszawa
There is also room for a tennis table. The entire area is crisscrossed by a dense network of jogging paths, the layout of which is marked by posts that inform runners of the further direction.
The winning concept for the design of the Stadium at 5 Wawelska Street in Warsaw
proj.: Bujnowski Architekci Sp. z o. o. and ATJ ARCHITEKCI © UM Warszawa
What's next for Skra's stadium?
This year's opening is only the beginning of the changes that await Skra's stadium in Warsaw - the second, main stage of work is pending, to be carried out according to the concept selected in the 2023 competition. The Competition Jury, chaired by Piotr Lewicki, selected the work prepared by Piotr Bujnowski's studio. The jury awarded the first prize for, among other things, "respect for the existing context and an architectural solution that fits into the park surroundings," as well as "respect and remembrance of the place for the concept from the 1950s, which has not been realized in its entirety, by proposing two blocks ending the stadium stands at their southern ends." Despite the significant architectural intrusion, the design calls for leaving part of the original rubble concrete structure. covering the stands and closing the stadium from the south side.
The winning concept for the design of the Stadium at 5 Wawelska Street in Warsaw
designed by Bujnowski Architekci Sp. z o. o. and ATJ ARCHITEKCI © UM Warszawa.
All this, however, remains in the realm of plans, as the city has not had the funds to implement the competition concept for years, trying unsuccessfully to get the government to fund the project. So the most impressive changes are yet to come at Skra - but it's already worth a visit, because no matter what your physical condition, there's plenty to see.
