Public multi-family housing assembly

This residential complex in Łowicz, completed at the beginning of 2022, is a forerunner in a new programme by the Polish government to construct low-cost residential accommodation for the rental market in Poland.

The development consists of three buildings, forming a frontage to the street with two together forming a central courtyard, a car-free communal area for the use all residents. Studio apartments are located on the top floor, with those designed for large families chiefly located on the ground floor with access to adjacent gardens.

Despite the necessity to adhere to an extremely ambitious brief, not least in terms of investment costs, the project aimed to create a robust but dignified ensemble of buildings in line with the achievements of successful pre-war residential architecture.

To achieve this the design team sought to maximise the efficient use of every square metre of the plan while also maintaining a focus on the overall dignity and character of the buildings, proving that it is still possible to construct low-cost residential buildings while ensuring that those aspects often neglected by the commercial market, such as well proportioned rooms, good natural light and the possibility of cross ventilation, were achieved even in small flats of forty meters in size.

Proportion was a key tool in the development of the project with the objective being to realise buildings that would be universal in their spatial logic. The vertical proportion of the window, with its figurative relationship between the dimensions of the person and the room, achieves an effect similar to that which still delights in the interiors of 18th and 19th century townhouses.

The careful disposition of such living spaces makes it possible to achieve a clear and harmonious rhythm, both in the plan and on the façade of the building. When designing in this way, the entire emphasis is on the architectural composition, while the detail, the material and the entire architectural costume are of secondary importance.

In order to provide good living space at the lowest possible budget, it was crucial to use proven and available technologies. Ceramic walls with concrete floors are the most popular way of constructing buildings in Poland, which allowed for cheap and efficient construction.