Today, MVRDV unveiled their proposed design to transform a 19th-century heritage building into the Concordia Hub on Slodowa Island in Wroclaw, Poland. With most of Slodowa Island's buildings destroyed during the Siege of Breslau in World War II followed by a handful of other buildings being demolished later on, this particular building became known as the island's sole surviving structure. The rest of the island serves as a popular public park.

Working with local architect Q2, MVRDV was inspired by Janus — the Roman deity of transitions, the passage of time, and duality — for their concept. The design will retain the building's existing facade and add an extension to the rear, creating a distinction between old and new. The building's “formal” side will feature the historic facade, while the new contemporary addition will be a transparent structure and will face toward the public park.

“At both ends of the building, triple-height stepped voids provide a grand entrance space, hosting a cafe in the existing structure (with exposed brickwork from the original façade) and a food hall in the extension (which will include a large mural or an installation by a local artist interacting with the stepped ceiling),” MVRDV describes. The rest of the building will have co-working office spaces, and the top floor will feature an open-air terrace showing off views of Wroclaw.

Project Credits 

Architect: MVRDV
Principal-in-Charge: Nathalie de Vries
Design Team: Fokke Moerel, Luca Moscelli, Matteo Ornato, Brygida Zawadzka, Bartosz Bochynski, Carolin Cremer, and Michal Bala
Visualization: Antonio Luca Coco, Pavlos Ventouris, Masoud Khodadadi
Local Architect: Q2 (Maciej Janczyk, Marcin Kucharski)
Client: Concordia (Ewa Voelkel Krokowicz, CEO Concordia Design; Aleksandra Chachaj, external project manager)