Mennica Legacy Tower marks GP’s first completed project in Poland. The Mennica Legacy Tower was developed by an affiliate of Golub & Company LLC and Mennica Towers GGH MT Sp z o o S.K.A, and delivered in collaboration with Epstein, a design firm with offices in Chicago and Warsaw.
The Master Plan
Located at the intersection of Prosta and Zelazna streets in the CBD, both the 35-story and 10-story office buildings open to a landscape plaza with a pedestrian walkway that sits between them. The development is divided into the taller main tower on the east side of the site and the smaller building on the west side.
The 115,000-sm two-building office area is anchored by one of Poland’s largest institutions, mBank, and co-working provider WeWork. The development is part of a newly approved plan in the CBD of Warsaw, and consists of 80,000-sm of Class-A office space, a conference center, fitness center, ground-level retail, and four levels of underground parking and ancillary services.
More Than An Office Complex
A huge part of the local master plan was to make sure there were outdoor areas dedicated to the public where people can sit and enjoy different landscape features. More than 60% of the area is specifically dedicated to this. 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 project is much more than a signature new office complex,” says James Goettsch, FAIA, chairman and co-CEO at GP, in a release. “Integrally connected to its central urban plaza, the development creates a unique ‘sense of place’ that enhances the public realm of Warsaw.”
Unique Profile & Features
Rounded corners on the main tower’s northeast and southeast sides help reduce the visible length of the east and west facades. On the opposite corners, the lower 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. The southeast corner, in particular, steps outward in three-floor increments 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 the textured, saw-toothed facades give the enclosure an ever-changing appearance as one moves around the building.
Attention To Detail
A three-story lobby with a cable-supported enclosure utilizes a transparent glazing that blurs the boundary between interior and exterior space. The tower core is clad with large stone slabs that accentuate the solid mass of the core, in contrast to the lightness of the building’s lobby. The 2,000-sm tower floor plate provides an almost column-free space with 11- to 13-m lease spans and a 1.35-m 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 eighth level of the west building provide exterior amenity spaces with sweeping views that engage the city.
“The tower’s unique profile helps define it as a city landmark,” says Joachim Schuessler, GP Design Principal, in a release. “Its stepped, curved façade further distinguishes it in the skyline from all angles.”
Related Stories
| Nov 13, 2013
Installed capacity of geothermal heat pumps to grow by 150% by 2020, says study
The worldwide installed capacity of GHP systems will reach 127.4 gigawatts-thermal over the next seven years, growth of nearly 150%, according to a recent report from Navigant Research.
| Nov 8, 2013
Can Big Data help building owners slash op-ex budgets?
Real estate services giant Jones Lang LaSalle set out to answer these questions when it partnered with Pacific Controls to develop IntelliCommand, a 24/7 real-time remote monitoring and control service for its commercial real estate owner clients.
| Nov 6, 2013
Dallas’s goal of carbon neutrality by 2030 advances with second phase of green codes
Dallas stands out as one of the few large cities that is enforcing a green building code, with the city aiming to be carbon neutral by 2030.
| Nov 6, 2013
Energy-efficiency measures paying off for commercial building owners, says BOMA study
The commercial real estate industry’s ongoing focus on energy efficiency has resulted in a downward trend in total operating expenses (3.9 percent drop, on average), according to BOMA's Experience Exchange Report.
| Nov 6, 2013
PECI tests New Buildings Institute’s plug load energy use metrics at HQ
Earlier this year, PECI used the NBI metrics to assess plug load energy use at PECI headquarters in downtown Portland, Ore. The study, which informed an energy-saving campaign, resulted in an 18 percent kWh reduction of PECI’s plug load.
| Oct 31, 2013
CBRE's bold experiment: 200-person office with no assigned desks [slideshow]
In an effort to reduce rent costs, real estate brokerage firm CBRE created its first completely "untethered" office in Los Angeles, where assigned desks and offices are replaced with flexible workspaces.
| Oct 30, 2013
15 stellar historic preservation, adaptive reuse, and renovation projects
The winners of the 2013 Reconstruction Awards showcase the best work of distinguished Building Teams, encompassing historic preservation, adaptive reuse, and renovations and additions.
| Oct 30, 2013
Why are companies forcing people back to the office?
For a while now companies have been advised that flexibility is a key component to a successful workplace strategy, with remote working being a big consideration. But some argue that we’ve moved the needle too far toward a “work anywhere” culture.
| Oct 30, 2013
11 hot BIM/VDC topics for 2013
If you like to geek out on building information modeling and virtual design and construction, you should enjoy this overview of the top BIM/VDC topics.
| Oct 28, 2013
Urban growth doesn’t have to destroy nature—it can work with it
Our collective desire to live in cities has never been stronger. According to the World Health Organization, 60% of the world’s population will live in a city by 2030. As urban populations swell, what people demand from their cities is evolving.
