Concordia Design Wrocław
Concordia Design is a mixed-use building containing co-working spaces, an event venue, a food hall, a café, and a rooftop terrace on Słodowa Island in Wrocław, Poland. The project is a renovation and extension of a 19th-century listed building, retaining the façade of the existing building and adding a contemporary extension to create a focal point for the neighbouring park and a destination that will enhance the experience of the island for visitors.
Słodowa Island has a complex and important history – the existing building is the only structure that remained on the island following the Siege of Breslau in World War 2 – but the island has also become a meeting place for the city’s dynamic youth and its forward-thinking creative culture. With Concordia Design Wrocław, the aim was to respect both these features of the location, resulting in a building with no ‘backside’ that opens up to visitors in both directions.
The design is thus influenced by depictions of Janus, the Roman deity of transitions, time, and duality. The form and interior layout of the building displays a certain symmetry, with triple-height stepped voids at the entrances on each end of the building. However, within this symmetry there are clear distinctions between the “formal” end of the building, featuring the retained façade of the historic building, and the new addition. On the formal end, the entrance space hosts the café and exposed brick walls from the original building.
The informal end of the building faces the park and hosts the food hall. Reflecting the energy given to the park by the city’s young people, this end of the building is transparent, modern, and inviting, with a three-storey glass wall that opens up to the park revealing a large mural by Polish artist Alicja Biała. The main theme of her work is slow pace, respect for everyday life, deceleration, and contact with nature. Realistic characters are depicted side by side with imaginary creatures.
Architect: MVRDV
Founding Partner in charge: Nathalie de Vries
Partner: Fokke Moerel
Design Team: Luca Moscelli, Mateusz Wojcieszek, Matteo Ornato, Brygida Zawadzka, Bartosz
Bochynski, Carolin Cremer, Michal Bala.
Partners:
Client: Concordia Design (Ewa Voelkel Krokowicz, CEO; Aleksandra Chachaj, external project manager)
Local Architect: Q2 (Maciej Janczyk, Marcin Kucharski)
Mural Artist: Alicja Biała
Contractor: DEMIURG, WEGNER
