Old granary

location: Poland, Gliwice, ul. Zygmunta starego
architects: Przemo Łukasik, Łukasz Zagała
associate architects: Rafał Dziedzic, Kuba Pudo, Tomasz Majewski, Dominik Jaksik, Dawid Beil, Krzysztof Drozda, Justyna Siwińska-Pszoniak, Agnieszka Szewera, Jakub Magoń
exemplary appartment interior design: Agnieszka Glińska i Ewa Marcinek
construction: Firma Inżynierska STATYK
investor: Wektor Inwestycje sp. z o.o.
usable floor area: 5 000 sqm
design: 2007-2008
realization: 2009
award: Superjednostka 2010
photographs: Tomasz Zakrzewski

The historic granary building is located in an attractive part of Gliwice filled with low and medium-rise residential buildings, a rarity in the location of post-industrial buildings. It was originally used as a grain warehouse and, in the post-war period, as a medicines store next to the adjacent Military Hospital. The adaptation did not involve any significant changes to the body of the building, only that two external circulation shafts clad in Cor-Ten steel were added due to the designed layout of the flats. An exotic wood terrace was designed between the newly designed circulation shafts, extending the commercial and retail functions located on the ground floor. The façade of the building was renovated and restored, the original castiron joinery was removed, and replaced with wood joinery that meets the thermal requirements. Given the repetitive layout of the storeys, based on a structural grid of wooden columns, it was assumed that it would be possible to incorporate various variants for the development of residential functions. On the ground floor, services, commercial or office functions are envisaged in open-space areas, with the possibility of any arrangement by the future client. The interiors of the flats and commercial premises have been left in their original character – raw brick and wooden construction in natural colour. These elements were only cleaned and impregnated. The internal staircases were restored and contemporary lifts were introduced.