Public space | Warsaw Brewery

The idea of the Browary Warszawskie project was to "turn the city over to the City". Few, historic buildings, or their remains, although constituting only a small fragment of the development, have become the most exposed objects in the new fabric of streets and squares. The aim of the project was to find a recipe for transforming an empty area, using the specific character and climatic remains of historical buildings, to create a place that is attractive and at the same time friendly to residents.

A properly functioning city is a kind of mix of functions, where the boundaries between them are blurred. The breweries are strongly and clearly linked to neighbouring parts of the city. The consequences of the basic design assumptions have been translated into major functional and urban planning decisions. As a result of these decisions, axes, openings, dominants and new streets and squares were shaped. Subsequently, the solutions for urban interiors, façade tectonics, greenery management, the shaping of the internal spaces of the buildings, their structures and installations, the choice of materials, textures, colours, small architecture, etc. were detailed. However, none of these components constituted an objective and were not self-contained, but interdependent with the others.

Breweries are a mix of functions. There are office and residential buildings. The service areas are designed for different types of activities from conference rooms to shops to all types of catering. The brewery located in the centre of the complex in the Cellars, adjacent to the historic Brewhouse - could not be missed either.

In order to avoid the effect of 'artificiality', the newly designed development is characterised by a 'coherent diversity' of buildings with very different facades, but the building form, scale and small details give the complex a homogeneous, though not monotonous character. The southern part, on the side of Grzybowska Street housing offices, is the metropolitan face of the complex. Krochmalna Street, reconstructed in its pre-war form, runs through the middle of the Brewery. It is a classic in its proportions, an inner-city street marked out by house frontages emphasised by a row of trees. The northern part, along Krochmalna Street, is a regular urban quarter, connecting to Chłodna Street and further to Hale Mirowskie and the green areas of Saski Park. An additional element unifying the development and at the same time showing the industrial past are the historic remains of the brewery. These include the Fabricant's Villa, the Laboratory, the Brewhouse and the Brewery Cellars. The space that connects all the functions of the complex and forms its heart is the central square, the Brewhouse Market. Next to the Brewhouse building, which is now the focal point of the square, there is a recreational area containing restaurant gardens arranged around a fountain. Along Krochmalna Street, a building with a characteristic architecture inspired by the tectonics of the now defunct Malt House building was erected. On the opposite side of the Market Square, a representative part was created, emphasised by a dominant feature set in the corner - a residential tower. The square behind the Brewhouse is a secluded leisure garden. On the side of Grzybowska Street, a representative entrance square - the Brewery Gate - was designed. Inside the office quarter, there is a unique place - the Central Garden, and underneath it the Brewhouse Cellars - these are lines of former cellars where beer used to mature. By lowering the space and creating a two-storey square in front of the Cellars of the Lagers, direct access to the cradles was gained - the cross-section through the cradles thus exposed shapes the characteristic facade.

Gardens have been designed inside each building block; those surrounded by office buildings - generally accessible, and those in the residential part - semi-private, intended mainly for residents. In each case, these are green enclaves that are conducive to recreation, separated from the city noise.