Architecture firm Goettsch Partners (GP) has been retained by developers Golub & Co. and Golub GetHouse Sp. z o.o to design a new Class A office development project located in Warsaw, Poland. The Mennica Legacy Tower development is located in the Central Business District of Warsaw at the intersection of Prosta and Żelazna Streets. GP will collaborate with Epstein, a design firm with offices in both Chicago and Warsaw, which will guide the project through the government approval process in Warsaw and serve as architect and engineer of record as well as design engineer for MEP and structural engineering services.

The program is divided into a 35-story tower located on the south east side of the site and a smaller 10-story building on the west side of the site. It is part of a newly-approved master plan that governs development in this area. The project consists of approximately 100,000 gross square meters, with 80,000 gross square meters of Class A office space which includes a conference and a fitness center as well as ground level retail. Four levels of underground parking and ancillary services encompass the remaining 26,000 gross square meters. Between the two structures is a large open plaza that provides ample space for outdoor seating and a variety of landscape features.

James Goettsch, FAIA, CEO and Chairman of GP explains one of his firm’s goals for this project, “…an opportunity to do more than just build a building. 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.”

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 tower mass has rounded corners on the northeast and southwest sides that reduces the visible length of the east and west facades, and features a strong vertical edge on the opposite corners. The southeast and northwest corners are further highlighted by slightly recessed vertical slots that break up the building’s mass and introduce a dominant, recognizable feature that will make the building an urban landmark. The textured, saw tooth facades reinforce the rounded corners and gives the enclosure an ever-changing appearance as one moves around the building.

The southeast corner of the tower steps in three-floor increments outwards towards the top, which opens up the slot to the sky and creates a dynamic and unique profile that will be a glowing building feature at night. A sloping screen wall at the building’s top further highlights the profile and emphasizes its highest point on the southeast corner.

The taller building will have a three-story lobby with a cable-supported enclosure, utilizing a low iron glass with a non-reflective coating 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.

Construction on Mennica Legacy Tower is expected to begin late in 2015 and will be completed late in 2018.