Brama Miasta (City Gate)

• location:Poland, Łódź, ul. Kilińskiego
• architects: Przemo Łukasik, Łukasz Zagała
• associate architects: Justyna Siwińska-Pszoniak, Małgorzata Spyra, Agnieszka Szewera-Drozda, Mateusz Skalski, Maciej Spiess, Małgorzata Kasińska, Anna Przybyłka, Damian Langer, Seweryn Wróblewski, Michał Sokołowski, Konrad Basan, Mateusz Rymar, Krzysztof Weber, Piotr Dećko, Michał Laskowski, Katarzyna Chobot
• investor: SKANSKA
• construction: Industria Project
• installations: CE Group, BZB Projekt (administrative procedures)
• facade design: Studio Profil
• greenery design: Krzysztof Kass KASS-ARCHITEKTURA KRAJOBRAZU
• road design: Seweryn Wróblewski
• comic authors: Tomasz Kaczkowski + Kolektyf
• signage: Joanna (Sowula) Katańska
• total area: 40 000 sqm
• design: 2015-2017
• realization:
  • building A: 2020
  • building B: 2019
• certification: LEED · Core and Shell (v2009) · Gold
• photographs: Rafał Tomczyk
• awards:
  • ICONIC Awards 2020 / Innovative Architecture
  • Property Design Awards 2020
  • “Modern Pearl of Lodz” during the 5th edition of the plebiscite Perły Łodzi

The City Gate building is a link between the old city and the so-called New Centre of Łódź. It encompasses part of the inner city connecting business, transport and culture. The project consists of two buildings (A and B). The premise opens up to Łódź and its inhabitants. This has been emphasised in the design by a discreet separation of the blocks, creating a symbolic gateway to the new city. The glass used in the space between the buildings creates a mirror effect by reflecting the surroundings. This bonds the volumes even more strongly to the fabric of the city.

The façades, covered with a mosaic of corten and black sheet panels, give the volumes a spatial dimension, creating impressions that change with the point of view. The dance of these large volumes becomes dynamic from the perspective of those travelling along one of the thoroughfares that run in the vicinity of the buildings.

In addition to the industrial materials used on the façade, the design also makes use of the brick used on the floors. The materials allude to the industrial character of the city. The architecture of the City Gate is inspired by the brick aesthetic that dominates Łódź’s historic buildings, but uses a contemporary language. Rust-coloured corten combines old conditions and modern needs.

Proud of its traditions, Łódź is today simultaneously associated as a city of festivals, fashion and design weeks attracting young, creative people. The aesthetics of the City Gate reflect this, which is why the interiors of all the lift halls are covered with cartoon graphics alluding to the 19th-century traditions of industrial tycoons important to the city’s history.

The City Gate opens up not only formally, but also functionally. Service and catering establishments have been designed on the ground floor. The buffer between the buildings is filled with recreational spaces arranged as a green enclave of the New Centre of Łódź.

Part of the ground floor provides a coworking area for employees and their visitors. The canopy of the exit ramp to the garage is designed as an arrangement of wooden bleachers where office workers can take a break. On summer evenings, this space can serve as an auditorium for an open-air cinema, drawing on the rich traditions of the Łódź Film School.