Images: Ossip van Duivenbode
One of Poznan’s most talked about new buildings, Baltyk, is a linear building with a concrete, entirely glass-fronted façade and clearly exposed aggregate grain, that sets it apart from its surroundings and is an example of a balanced combination of “old” and “new” architecture in the context of the neighbouring historic building of Concordia Design and the Haven.
This 25,000m² building is divided into 12,000m² office space, 750m² panorama restaurant with a one room hotel, 1350m² retail in the plinth of the building and three levels of underground parking. The flexible office space is limited to a depth of seven metres allowing daylight to generously penetrate the workspaces.
Baltyk is also a multifunctional building with innovative interior solutions, and scenic terraces offering panoramic views of the city. In addition to business-oriented functions, the building will house catering establishments, a fitness club, and an intimate jazz club on the 16th floor. Its close proximity to the reopened Concordia Taste restaurant and Haven square creates social functions that encourage meeting and integrating different communities.
“The goal was clear: we were to realise a representative office building with public functions on the first two layers and at the top. But also offering the best possibilities for users and everybody else around. We realised that if we could control the footprint of the building, we were able to create a new square between Baltic and Concordia. We responded by turning diagonal shapes into terraces, usable by the office workers. A thin building that is very different from all four sides i.e. it is slim towards the top to create a more tower-like feeling but still respective of the neighbourhood height restrictions,” says Nathalie de Vries, MVRDV co-founder.
This results in a form which appears completely different depending on the angle it is approached from. Towards the south, a slope of cascading patios offers outdoor spaces to the users of the building. The façade is floor-to-ceiling glass with vertical louvres of glass fibre concrete softening the impact of the sun without losing the vistas over the city and zoo.
MVRDV and co-architects Natkaniec/Olechnicki Architekci designs responded to the client’s request for more fluent connections between lower and upper levels, connect the building to the neighbourhood and at the same time, is bold and significant with its depth in the volume. Diagonal shapes are turned into terraces for users, and this thins out as it ascends allowing for less square meters of offices in return for more public space below.
