Frequently asked questions
Answers to the questions developers and investors ask us most often.
Does EMA Studio design residential buildings for developers?
Yes — multi-family housing is our main specialism. Our projects include a housing estate in Dębica (201 flats), an estate in Skawina (140 flats), two buildings in Radom (124 flats) and buildings in Kępno (56 flats), Wieluń (50), Wieruszów (42), Jasło on Polnych Kwiatów Street (42) and Syców (20). Altogether that is nearly 700 flats and houses in completed schemes and schemes under construction.
We design large estates built in phases as well as single buildings of a few dozen flats and estates of semi-detached houses.
See: Housing estate in Dębica · Multi-family housing estate in Skawina · Housing estate in Radom · Multi-family building in Kępno · Multi-family building in Wieluń · Multi-family residential building in Wieruszów · Multi-family buildings on Polnych Kwiatów Street in Jasło — Stage I · Multi-family building in Syców — stage 1
Which clients have you worked for?
We work for private and public clients. We designed the estates in Dębica, Radom and Skawina for PFR Nieruchomości under the Mieszkanie Plus housing programme — the schemes were run by MDR (Mieszkania dla Rodzin) companies. The building in Wieruszów was designed for Malik Development, and the Community Self-Help Centre on Izabelli Street for the City of Warsaw (Żoliborz district).
We also design premises for the City Fit, Well Fitness, Just Gym and Medicover chains, and interiors for Baltona.
See: Housing estate in Dębica · Housing estate in Radom · Multi-family housing estate in Skawina · Multi-family residential building in Wieruszów · Community Self-Help Centre and day-support facility on Izabelli Street in Warsaw
What scope of services do you provide?
We take a project through every stage of design documentation: site capacity study, concept design, building permit design, tender documentation, detailed construction design and design supervision during construction.
We can also deliver a single stage only — for example a site capacity study before you buy a plot, or a concept design.
Do you provide design supervision during construction?
Yes — on practically all our completed projects. We only leave it out in individual cases, at the client’s request.
Who leads the project at your practice?
Every project is led personally by at least one of the practice’s partners: Ewelina Siestrzewitowska, Mateusz Gierszon or Antoni Surowiak. Larger schemes are run jointly by both our offices, in Warsaw and in Jasło.
We are an independent design practice, not a large firm, so clients talk directly to the architects who design their building.
Do you carry out site capacity studies?
Yes. A site capacity study shows how many flats or how much usable floor area a plot can take under the local zoning plan or planning decision and current building regulations. We prepare them for residential, office and public buildings, including before a decision to buy the plot.
Do you design estates of single-family and semi-detached houses?
Yes. Completed projects include six semi-detached buildings (12 homes) on Widokowa Street in Jasło, on a steeply sloping site, and an estate of eight houses in Jakubowice Konińskie near Lublin. Semi-detached houses in Opatkowice are under construction.
See: Semi-detached housing estate on Widokowa Street in Jasło · Single-family housing estate near Lublin · Single-family semi-detached houses in Opatkowice
Do you design energy-efficient buildings?
Yes. We choose building services with running costs in mind. In Kępno we designed a hybrid heat source — a district heating substation plus heat pumps powered by the building’s own photovoltaic system. In Wieluń the garage has electric vehicle charging and the roof is partly green. In Skawina, Kępno and Jasło rainwater is retained on site.
We also design passive buildings and buildings in alternative technologies.
See: Multi-family building in Kępno · Multi-family building in Wieluń · Multi-family housing estate in Skawina
Where do you work?
We have two offices: in Warsaw (ul. Nowogrodzka 17/13) and in Jasło (ul. Obrońców Westerplatte 6). We work all over Poland — our projects include schemes in Dębica, Radom, Skawina, Kępno, Wieluń, Wieruszów, Syców, Jasło and near Lublin.
The Warsaw office covers the Masovian, Lublin, Łódź, Świętokrzyskie, Podlaskie, Kuyavian-Pomeranian, Pomeranian, Warmian-Masurian, Greater Poland and Lower Silesian voivodeships; the Jasło office covers the Subcarpathian, Lesser Poland and Silesian voivodeships.
What awards has the practice won?
The most important are: 2nd prize in the competition for a municipal housing estate on 1 Sierpnia Street in Warsaw (2023, jointly with Archigrest), 1st prize in the competition for a model house for the Mieszkanie Plus programme (2017), 1st prize in the competition for the Community Self-Help Centre on Izabelli Street in Warsaw (2021) — a project that also won a Rethinking the Future Global Architecture Award 2023 in the Healthcare category — and 3rd prize in the competition for the redevelopment of Karowa Street in Warsaw (2025).
The full list of awards is on the home page.
See: Municipal housing estate on 1 Sierpnia Street in Włochy, Warsaw · Model house for the Mieszkanie Plus programme — Korczaka Street estate in Katowice · Community Self-Help Centre and day-support facility on Izabelli Street in Warsaw · Karowa Street redevelopment in Warsaw — ‘Nowa Karowa’ competition
Do you design public buildings and take part in competitions?
Yes. We regularly enter architectural and urban design competitions — from housing estates and public buildings to urban spaces — and have won more than ten prizes and distinctions. The Community Self-Help Centre and day-support facility on Izabelli Street in Warsaw, selected through a competition we won, is now under construction.
See: Community Self-Help Centre and day-support facility on Izabelli Street in Warsaw
Do you design commercial interiors and chain premises?
Yes. Since 2018 we have designed City Fit premises (in Warsaw, Lublin and Puławy, among others), as well as Well Fitness and Just Gym clubs and a Medicover facility. For Baltona we prepared concepts for food and beverage chains (including Travel Chef, Coffee Express and Cavarious). We have also designed food and beverage zones in the new terminal of Gdańsk airport and the commercial interiors of Radom airport.
How much does a design cost and how do I get a quote?
The cost depends on the scale of the project and the scope of work. You can prepare a preliminary estimate in the calculator on our website (the “Pricing” tab) and send an enquiry from there. For larger schemes it is best to write to [email protected] — we will prepare an offer matched to the scope.
How do we start working together?
Write to [email protected] or call: Warsaw +48 512 095 084 (Ewelina Siestrzewitowska) or +48 694 784 672 (Mateusz Gierszon), Jasło +48 787 318 089 (Antoni Surowiak).
It helps if you send the location or plot number, the planning basis (local zoning plan or planning decision) and the brief — for example the approximate number of flats. On that basis we will propose the scope of work and a quote.