Warsaw, Poland
“This was an opportunity to do more than just build a building,” states James Goettsch.
“The office tower and the lower block are designed to be integrally linked with the large urban plaza, and the result will be an ensemble that will create a unique ‘sense of place’ which we hope will enhance the public realm of Warsaw.”
Designed by Goettsch Partners together with Epstein Global, the new Mennica Legacy Tower complex, part of a newly approved master plan for development in the CBD of Warsaw, is divided into a 35-story tower on the southeast side of the site and a smaller 10-story building on the west side.
The Mennica Legacy Tower has recently been awarded a 2022 American Architecture Award, a 2022 International Architecture Awards Honorable Mention, and a 2021 Green Good Design® Award by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.
The development features approximately 80,000 square meters of Class A office space, including a conference center, fitness center, and ground-level retail, as well as four levels of underground parking and ancillary services.
Large, public open spaces around and between the two structures provide outdoor seating and a variety of landscape features.
The local master plan guided the overall massing and shape of the complex. More than 60% of the site is dedicated to outdoor public areas, exceeding the plan guidelines.
The stepped arrangement of the two buildings, as well as the sculpted, sloped top of the tower, specifically respond to requirements that allow daylight into adjacent residential buildings.
The podium and ground-floor levels of the complex feature building amenities, retail frontage, and highly transparent lobby spaces that promote an active pedestrian passage between the two buildings.
The rounded corners of the building masses draw activity and movement into the main pedestrian passageway, which connects large, publicly accessible plazas on the south and northwest ends of the site.
This connection anchors the development within the urban fabric of the city and creates a vibrant destination.
The main tower features rounded corners on the northeast and southwest sides that help to reduce the visible length of the east and west facades; on the opposite corners, the tower incorporates a strong vertical edge.
The southeast and northwest corners are each further distinguished by a vertical recess that breaks up the building’s mass and introduces a dominant feature, defining the complex as a landmark.
The southeast corner, in particular, steps in three-floor increments outward as it rises, opening the recess to the sky and creating a dynamic profile that becomes a glowing beacon at night.
A sloping screen wall at the building’s top enhances the profile and integrates roof terraces into the overall massing.
The textured, saw-toothed facades give the enclosure an ever-changing appearance as one moves around the building.
Inside, a three-story lobby with a cable-supported enclosure utilizes transparent glazing that blurs the boundary between interior and exterior space.
The tower core is clad with large stone slabs that accentuate the core’s solid mass, in contrast to the lightness of the building’s lobby.
The 2,000-square-meter tower floor plate provides an almost column-free space with 11- to 13-meter lease spans and a 1.35-meter planning grid.
The complex’s triple-glazed, high-performance facade with integrated operable panels supplies fresh air to occupants and combines state-of-the-art building enclosure technology with an appealing aesthetic.
Large landscaped outdoor terraces on the fifth level of the main tower and the west building’s eighth level provide exterior amenity spaces with sweeping views that engage the city.
Project: Mennica Legacy Tower
Architects: Goettsch Partners
Architects of Record: Epstein Global
Client: Golub GetHouse/Mennica Polska S.A.
Photographers: Sebastian Deptuła and Anatomia Formy
