Municipal housing estate on 1 Sierpnia Street in Włochy, Warsaw

Description

The competition concept for a municipal housing estate on 1 Sierpnia Street in Warsaw’s Włochy district covers approx. 18,500 m² of the former Warsowin factory site. The concept was developed jointly by EMA Studio and Archigrest and won 2nd prize in the competition (2023). It provides approx. 350 flats in three buildings totalling over 17,400 m² of usable floor area, plus nearly 3,000 m² of services, including ZGN offices (municipal property management), a local activity centre and a day-support facility. The flat mix is varied: over three quarters are one- and two-room units, the rest three- and four-room, combinable or divisible thanks to the modular structure. The guiding idea is ‘stratigraphic layers’: the small-scale, post-industrial ground level preserves the memory of the place, while the modernist comb-shaped housing overhangs above, separated by a horizontal cornice. Historic buildings are adapted: the administration building takes on community functions, the production hall becomes a skatepark and public space, the steel canopy a pergola and the chimney the estate’s landmark. The comb layout runs perpendicular to the railway tracks, with loggias forming an ‘acoustic shadow’ against noise. Phasing lets the local centre open before the housing is built. Heating comes from the city’s district heating network, hot water is supported by solar panels and photovoltaic-powered heat pumps, and rainwater is retained by green roofs, rain gardens and planted swales. The whole scheme follows universal design principles.