Atlas Tower (Warsaw)
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The Atlas Tower (former names: Reform Plaza 1999–2003 and Millennium Plaza 2003–2018) is a high-rise office building in Warsaw . There is a shopping center on the lower floors. The building erected at the end of the 1990s is one of the most controversial new buildings in the city after the fall of the Wall .
history
The building is located at the confluence of Aleje Jerozolimskie (No. 123) with the roundabout of Plac Artura Zawiszy and thus just belongs to the inner city district . As it is around 800 meters from the skyscrapers of Warsaw's financial and business district around Ulica Emilii Plater , the Millennium Plaza with its 28 floors above ground sticks out conspicuously from the six-storey post-war buildings in its vicinity. This unique position is often criticized.
The investor in the new building was the Reform Company Sp. Z oo, owned by the Turkish textile entrepreneur Sabri Bekdas, who acquired large areas of land in Warsaw in the mid-1900s, mainly at Aleje Jerozolimskie . The then Reform Plaza was designed by the Turkish architect and entrepreneur Vahap Toy.
Construction began in 1998 and was completed in 1999. Construction costs were $ 45 million. For the opening ceremony of the Reform Plaza on October 20, 1999, the client flown in 16 MPs and five ministers from Turkey. The then Polish President Aleksander Kwaśniewski did not appear despite the invitation. Instead, the Polish Minister Ryszard Kalisz was present. The Voivode of Mazovia, Maciej Gielecki , and the President of the City of Warsaw, Marcin Święcicki , referred to the importance of Turkish investments in Poland in their speeches at the opening.
Renting the office space in the property turned out to be difficult because of its location and equipment. One of the first tenants was Dresdner Bank . In 2002 the Dutch investors Singspiel Investeringen BV and Anandrous BV took over a majority in the high-rise. The new main tenant was Bank Millennium , a subsidiary of Banco Comercial Português “Millennium”, which rented nine floors. The name of the building was then changed to Millennium Plaza .
The new owners intended a comprehensive modernization of the high-rise. The facade should also be designed in a more modern way. This conversion did not take place, but around 2 million zlotys were invested in the addition of three additional elevators to the east-facing outer facade and the creation of an underground access to the underground car park. Other tenants at the time were the publishing house of the magazine Wprost and the companies Dell and ABG SA - whose logos were displayed on the top floors of the building. The Millennium Plaza remained the central office of Bank Millennium until March 2008 . But even after the bank's rental space was greatly reduced, the skyscraper retained its name until the end of 2018.
At the beginning of 2019, the building was renamed Atlas Tower . Current tenants include the Mexican Embassy and Turkish Airlines .
Warsaw residents have developed various nicknames for the building. The best known is Toi Toi - after the Toi Toi mobile toilet brand , which obviously alludes to the shape and color of the high-rise.
Furnishing
The high-rise corresponds in parts to Turkish design and taste. The exterior of the building resembles various high-rise buildings in Istanbul , such as the Giz 2000 Plaza or Yapi Kredi Tower buildings , which were erected around the same time . The statics of the building are determined by massive pillars, as the use of steel reinforcement was reduced in favor of concrete. The interior also corresponds more to Turkish taste and is attributed to the eccentricity of the client and architect. The entrance area and the shopping floors are equipped with extensive, golden decorative elements. The four storeys with shops close around an open hall, which is defined by two panoramic elevators and an aquarium. Many plants and a fountain should create a special climate with increased humidity.
The Atlas Tower has three underground floors used as an underground car park and a fitness center, as well as 28 floors above ground. The first four floors serve as a shopping center; There are several restaurants on the fifth floor. The sixth floor contains a conference center. The floors above are used as office space, to which six elevators lead. The high-rise stands on an area of around 2300 square meters and is 112 meters high, the mast reaches a height of 124 meters. An originally planned garden landscape with ponds and a helicopter landing pad on the roof of the building were not implemented.
See also
References and comments
- ↑ according to Article Millennium Plaza ( Memento of the original from February 6, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at Gazeta Online from April 19, 2006 (accessed August 28, 2012, in Polish)
- ↑ according to Article Zmodernizują najbrzydszy biurowiec stolicy? at Gazeta Online from August 20, 2009 (accessed August 28, 2012, in Polish)
- ↑ according to Information ( Memento of the original from November 2, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at Wieczowce.pl (in English)
- ↑ Vahap Toy was also the architect of the smaller Eurocentrum high-rise built in 2002 at Aleje Jerozolimskie 124/138 , according to Information on the Eurocentrum ( Memento of the original dated November 2, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at Wiezowce Warszawy (accessed on August 28, 2012, in English) and the Centrum Handlowe Blue City shopping center , which is also located on Aleje Jerozolimskie . He also attracted widespread attention in the 2000s with the announcement of a 6 billion dollar project that provided for the construction of a huge amusement park with an Eiffel Tower replica as well as an attached airport and a Formula 1 racing track near the village of Biała Podlaska , according to Skyscrapers at In Your Pocket Online (accessed August 28, 2012)
- ↑ according to Kapitalny interes in Wprost magazine , issue 5/2000 (896), accessed August 28, 2012, in Polish
- ↑ a b according to Articles Millennium Plaza in Warsaw , in the trade journal: Der Schornstein , issue: 49 (3/2003), Bildungsstätte des Schornsteinfegerhandwerk e. V., Doberschütz 2003
- ↑ Było Millenium Plaza jest Atlas Tower. nowawarszawa.pl, November 22, 2018, accessed March 5, 2019 (Polish).
- ↑ according to Information Skyscrapers at In Your Pocket Online (accessed August 28, in English)
Web links
- Operator's Atlas Tower website
- Millenium Plaza Warsaw HD computer-animated promotional video by the Akron Group on the skyscraper on YouTube (partly not realized, English)
Coordinates: 52 ° 13 ′ 29.6 ″ N , 20 ° 59 ′ 28.6 ″ E