130 MILLION TO COMBAT THE ECONOMIC CRISIS – AND FOR URBAN CONSTRUCTION 

The modern take on reconstruction of a former highlight of the port city, with 43,000 m² of commercial, cultural and culinary delights – perfectly integrated into the eclectic, historic buildings around it and the newly built infrastructure. It is the result of meticulous collaboration between the architects of the investors, ECE, and Prof. Zbigniew Paszkowski, Head of the Conservation Strategies Working Group, alongside the renowned Polish architects office, Urbicon.

Patina brick slips: the harmonious keystone for a facade with an important legacy; stylistic architectural device and fusion of building conservation and cosmopolitan chic.

The complex built in 1889 at the crossing between what is now Niepodległości Avenue and Obrońców Stalingradu Street had always been a show-stopper – until it fell victim to a catastrophic fire in 1981. Not a straightforward history for architects and planners to take on! The major Kaskada project in the heart of the city was to draw on elements of the big city in times gone by, in a conservation area that had been derelict for 30 years.

Even though the name originates from its time as a restaurant complex and legendary socialist shrine to entertainment, the claim on pioneering architecture stems from the golden age of the 1920s. Owner Otto Ponath wanted to open a high-class club in the building and organised a befitting major restoration in 1929: his club, and also the building itself gained fame that would spread far beyond the city boundaries. It was the height of modernity for buildings of its type, with gas heating and mechanical ventilation – but the facade was one of the main attractions. This was not just down to the circular construction of the rotunda, but also due to the masterful use of the most modern and expensive neon technology in the world at that time. It was this that drew the attention.

The past is now represented first and foremost with colours: the yellow of the champagne that once flowed here and the red of the curtains of the famous Pleciuga puppet theatre, which has once again found a home here. The blue represents the clothing firm Odra, which once produced denim clothes here. And last but not least, the brick slips: harmonious keystone, stylistic architectural device and fusion of building conservation and cosmopolitan chic. 3,500 m² of Zeitlos brick slips in „eisenrost“ and 15,000 corner pieces, in the special dimensions of 240 x 71 x 14 mm with deep dovetailing for production in PU thermal panels. And what‘s more: fired in a high-tech process, with a patinated surface..