To create a new dominant feature in the landscape of Warsaw's Praga Port. This was the goal of architects from the APA Wojciechowski studio when designing the two apartment buildings: Port and Lighthouse.
The APA Wojciechowski studio was nominated for the Mies van der Rohe Award for the redevelopment of the Powiśle power station in Warsaw and the realization of the Riverview estate in Gdansk. In Krakow, an office building complex designed by them in the Podgórze district - The Park Krakow - is under construction.
View of Lanterns from the street
photo by Piotr Krajewski, © APA Wojciechowski
location
The complex, located in Warsaw's Praga district, was built at the junction of two distinct urban tissues - the historic buildings of the Old Praga district and the point buildings standing along the Vistula River. The apartment complex is adjacent to the Kosciuszko Monument. The plot is strongly exposed from both sides of the Szczeciñski Wybrzeze. It was important to the architects that the complex become the dominant feature of the landscape, the Lighthouse itself, the showcase of the entire project. Locating it outside the historic quarter layout of Praga allowed the introduction of new spatial solutions. The project site was an irregular polygon with dimensions of about one hundred meters by thirty and an area of 2665 square meters.
The lighthouse in Praga Port
photo by Piotr Krajewski, © APA Wojciechowski
The main idea of the project was to create a dominant feature at the "entrance" to the Prague Port area, a showcase of the entire Project. The lighthouse and the Port, invite you to enter Praski Port and are a characteristic element of the right bank of Warsaw. Executed with the utmost care, the illumination of the buildings' facade at night makes it visible from afar around the clock. Thanks to the use of top-quality materials and well-kept greenery, the building is representative both from the outside and inside, according to architects from the APA Wojciechowski studio.
architecture
The complex, consisting of two buildings, was located on a plateau. The division of the complex into two parts - the Port and the Lighthouse- allows opening up views of the Vistula River and other landscape elements. The lighthouse is a point-like structure with a near-square plan, clearly visible from the left bank of the river. The tower's facade was clad in clinker in a shade of brown. The corners of the tower have been entirely glazed except for the places where loggias facing the Vistula and the Old Town have been placed. The lighthouse has corner balconies on the side of the most attractive views.
view of Praga Port
photo by Piotr Krajewski, © APA Wojciechowski
The part called the port stood on a common base, in which garages, commercial premises and greenery in the form of a garden, ornamental grasses supplemented with garden equipment and benches were located. On the lowest level there is the possibility of private gardens. Above all, Praga Port seeks to place the new architecture in the landscape of the right bank of the Vistula River.
bird's eye view of the entire complex
photo by Piotr Krajewski, © APA Wojciechowski
When designing the architecture, the focus was on contemporary forms of expression combined with traditional materials (clinker, sandstone) in modern proportions. The facades of the building were provided with noble finishing materials. They emphasize the prestigious location of the "entrance to the Port", and at the same time are durable, aesthetic and easy to maintain. The tower building was clad with clinker tiles of modern elongated proportions in the color scheme of brown shades. The facade of the "L" building is slabs of gray-whitesandstone, and the decorative element becomes C-shaped metal profiles, whose task is to break the monotony of the block form and achieve an interesting architectural expression. The material common to both blocks becomes elements of wood-like facade - the finishes of balconies, the upper floor of the "L" building. Balustrades are designed as light glass panels to emphasize the modernity and lightness of the building. Wood and wood-aluminum joinery in natural color, and in the tower building in graphite color from the outside," say architects from APA Wojciechowski office about the method of construction.
View of the Lighthouse with the street spire and Kosciuszkovec monument
photo Piotr Krajewski, © APA Wojciechowski
