"[...] it can't be reworked indefinitely," the chairman of the board of Polski Holding Nieruchomości said in early June, announcing his intention to demolish Warsaw's iconic Intraco skyscraper. Similar plans are also being made for other high-rise buildings in the capital, with Ilmet and PZU Tower likely to go under the pick. The owners of the unusual V Tower, formerly Warta Tower, standing on Chmielna Street in Warsaw, look at the situation differently. Thanks to the planned modernization, the 2000 skyscraper will be transformed into a building that meets the highest environmental standards and offers first-class spaces. And all this without demolition! What's more, {tag:Studio} is responsible for the interior metamorphosis.
It can't be done, it doesn't pay, there are no tenants - you often hear from owners of buildings slated for demolition. In fact, in most cases it is demolition that does not pay off in the 21st century, when average temperatures are inexorably rising and pollution reaches even the farthest corners of the planet. Although researchers around the world are sounding the alarm, for many people, however, demolition and replacement with a new building still seems a better investment than modernization. Fortunately, not everyone acts this way - as we will find out as early as the end of 2025, when V Tower in Warsaw will open for tenants.
V Tower in Warsaw
© investor press mat. photo: Piotr Krajewski
Before V Tower, there was Warta
Warta Tower at 85 Chmielna Street in Warsaw was designed in 1998 by a duo of architects with a rich and extremely diverse track record. The unusual skyscraper was worked on by Leszek Kazimierz Klajnert, the author of both the historicizing reconstruction of the Church of St. Brother Albert and St. Andrew the Apostle, the modernist LIII High School of the PAX Association under the invocation of St. Augustine, and the office building of S. Augustine. Augustine, as well as the Sienna Center office building in Wola, and Jerzy Czyż, co-author of the Saska Kępa II and Za Żelazną Bramą estates, who joined forces a few years earlier under the PBPA Projekt banner.
Warta Tower in Warsaw
photo: 434841c1 © public domain | Wikimedia Commons + photo: Hubert Smietanka vel Hiuppo © CC BY SA 2.5 | Wikimedia Commons
The fruit of their collaboration was an office building with a very distinctive form. Its core is a proto-perpendicular, vertical block with a height of 82 meters, on which 22 floors are laid out. The glass monolith was used to cut out volumes in the corners and in the planes of the facade, and the top floors of the building were also moved back, which thanks to these measures gained ornamentality, distinguishing it from other Warsaw skyscrapers.
V Tower in Warsaw
© investor press mat. photo: Piotr Krajewski
skyscraper on the podium
The most distinctive element of V Tower, however, is the "podium," a six-story structure with a layout similar to the perimeter of a rectangle, surrounding the main body of the skyscraper.
V Tower in Warsaw
© investor press mat. photo: Piotr Krajewski
In contrast to the airy glass silhouette of the skyscraper, the "podium" was finished with granite slabs, which gave it monumentality, creating the impression of a solid pedestal for the vertical body of the tower. The space between the "podium" and the tower was also landscaped - there was a garden overgrown with bamboos, vines, low shrubs and other plantings. Today, after a quarter of a century has passed since its creation, the garden resembles a real jungle, a diverse ecosystem that stretches along, across and upwards.
V Tower in Warsaw
© press mat. of the investor, designed by APA Wojciechowski Architekci
postmodern temple of the insurers
The unusual shape of the Warta Tower has earned it several nicknames. Varsovians called it "Kulczyk's fortress" (he was the owner of the Warta Insurance Company at the time), "safe" or "temple." The exterior, eccentric form only partially foreshadowed what users of the building could find inside. No wonder, as the decor designed by Wieslaw Olko exceeds all expectations - the lobby here is truly "temple-like," with granite and large art-deco style pillars countered by a futuristic, exposed roof structure.
V Tower in Warsaw
© investor press mat. design by APA Wojciechowski Architekci
In addition to office space, the following floors housed VIP spaces and a restaurant, whose windows were fitted with magnifying glass, providing great views of the expanding capital. Not surprisingly, the opening, which took place in 2000, was to be attended by President Aleksander Kwasniewski himself.
V Tower in Warsaw
© investor press mat. design by APA Wojciechowski Architekci
Despite its iconic status, Warta Tower has changed owners several times. In 2023 it was purchased by Cornerstone Investment Management, which early last year announced a name change and a major renovation of the barely 25-year-old skyscraper. What will change at V Tower on Chmielna Street?
V Tower in Warsaw
© investor press mat. proj. by APA Wojciechowski Architekci
Modernization Worth the Sin
Although the postmodern glass block on Chmielna Street does not have a lot of supporters, those for whom it has become an integral part of Warsaw's downtown skyline need not worry - the changes will not include the facade or the shape of the building. Instead, the interiors will change, with the Warsaw studio APA Wojciechowski responsible for the design. The office spaces will feature suspended ceilings and natural materials. Granite will disappear from the lobby, to be replaced by wood - instead, the characteristic skeleton of the canopy will remain, as well as art-deco "columns", whose eccentric detail will also extend to the walls. As for the walls - one of them, a hanging wall on the axis of the lobby, will be overgrown with greenery, completing the green canyon between the V Tower's blocks.
V Tower in Warsaw
© investor press mat. design by APA Wojciechowski Architekci
However, this is cosmetics - the most important changes will be invisible. After modernization, V Tower will become a fully green building, befitting the highest standards of sustainable architecture. As the investors assure, it is planned to obtain three important certificates - BREEAM at the Excellent level, WELL and "Barrier-free facility".
operability without a trace
To achieve this, the V Tower will install an intelligent BMS installation management system, which will take care of a completely new ventilation system:
The upgrade involves ventilation systems including replacing fan motors in the air handling units, optimizing cooling capacity and implementing VRV air conditioning in the server rooms. Also being replaced are fan coil units, air curtains and a whole set of modern, high-efficiency cooling equipment - chillers and drycoolers.
In addition, the V Tower will be brought up to Class A office building standards. There will be new high-speed elevators, revolving doors and an intelligent lighting control system in the main lobby, which will adjust the light intensity to the conditions outside.
V Tower in Warsaw
© investor press mat. design by APA Wojciechowski Architekci
V Tower after modernization will compete with the latest office projects - not only in terms of space quality, but also in terms of operational efficiency. After the modernization, the building's operational emissions will drop by 40%, reaching a value well below the average for the 30 largest existing office buildings in Poland. Primary energy consumption will decrease by 31% relative to the baseline - surpassing the threshold set by the EU Taxonomy. The redevelopment will generate just 4,000 tons of additional carbon footprint from an estimated 27,000 tons if the new building is demolished and erected. This level of emissions will pay for itself in a short period of time through significant energy efficiency improvements. V Tower thus proves that retrofitting can be a smart alternative to demolition - and could be a real breakthrough for the entire market, which until now has not looked at older buildings in terms of such a significant redevelopment. This is an unprecedented project nationally and a leader of change throughout the region. It is a venture that changes the rules of the game in the commercial real estate market
- says Dominika Bryla, Net Zero Team Leader at JWA, an ESG company.
The skyscraper is scheduled to be completed and available in October 2025.
