Polna

The building is situated in the immediate vicinity of an elegant residential complex built in the 1940s to a design by Bohdan Pniewski. Another important element of the environmental context is the Kurier Warszawski (now Życie Warszawy) printing house, situated across Polna Street, erected in the interwar period in the modernist spirit, characteristic of its authors – the architects Goldberg and Rutkowski. A tall corner building between Polna and Marszałkowska Streets is another landmark in the immediate neighbourhood.
The elevation overlooking Polna Street, finished in sandstone and plaster, was intended by the authors to harmonize with the divisions, massing and colours of both the residential development and the printing house. At the same time, the tall and slim rectangular solid forms a cohesive composition with the characteristic building at number 1, Marszałkowska Street, which was Warsaw’s tallest building in the early 20th century.
The south-western façade of the building, closing the view of Puławska Street from distant perspectives, was designed differently – based on terraces and loggias – which gives it, together with a five-storey wing set perpendicular to the street – a distinctly residential character.
The development was implemented in two stages and for two clients. The construction standards and flat sizes are also diversified. The adoption of common rules for the architectural shaping of mass and detail, was aimed to lend the whole a uniform character. The elevations of both buildings are of a two-plane design. The front plane consists of a sandstone wall, while the back plane is made up of plastered recesses with a uniform pattern of repeatable windows.
In both parts, recessed parts of the façades accommodate staircases. Full-height continuous windows of glass blocks illuminate the elevation at night, highlighting the building entrances.
On the backyard-facing side, a common composition motif is provided by loggias featuring a common railing detail and graphite window frames arranged in a repeatable modular pattern.
The whole building accommodates 136 apartments, commercial outlets and an underground garage.