Hotel Saski (Warsaw)
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The Hotel Saski was after the Second World War for 50 years, a two-star hotel in Warsaw . The building itself is older and is currently being converted into an office complex. In the future this property will be called Plac Bankowy 1 . The privatization of the building as well as the approved conversion to a class A office were highly controversial. The property is located on Plac Bankowy in downtown Warsaw and is a listed building.
The Hotel Saski should not be confused with the equally historic Hôtel de Saxe , which existed in today's Ulica Koza before the Second World War.
history
The exact history of the building's origins is not known. Presumably at the end of the 17th century, a baroque palace for a member of the Bieliński family was built here on the basis of a project by Tylman van Gameren . In the years from 1826 to 1828 a larger late classical building was built for Barbara Kossecka ( Kamienica Kossecki ) using part of the palace . The project probably came from Antonio Corazzi . Later it was converted into an elegant apartment building on behalf of the Polish businessman Janasz ( Kamienica Janasz ). Karol Galle and Alfons Kropiwnicki were probably responsible for the renovation .
In the early years of the Second World War, the building initially remained largely undamaged. On August 10, 1944, more than one hundred residents of the area were shot here by a German unit. Today a plaque on a neighboring building commemorates this mass execution. The building burned down during the Warsaw Uprising . Since the floors were based on wooden structures, only the outer walls remained. After the war it was rebuilt as a hotel until 1950 and named "Saski" (German: Saxon Hotel - a name that refers to the Saxon kings in Poland who created the Saxon axis and laid out the Saxon garden in the immediate vicinity ) utilized. Since the adjoining outbuildings were not reconstructed, a large inner courtyard was created. At first it was the Warsaw Garrison Hotel. After a few years it became a mid-range hotel for tourists and business people.
“ The Warsaw Hotel Saski, where I have stayed several times, always brought up the most interesting foreigners and for this reason I always went to the Hotel Saski and not to the Bristol or the Europejski , which always disappointed me. "
Hotel operations were discontinued at the end of the 1990s.
Controversial privatization
In the 1990s the hotel belonged to the city company Hotele Warszawskie "Syrena" . In addition to the Saski , the company also operated the Metropol , MDM , Polonia , Warszawa , Nowa Praga hotels and an office building on Chmielna Street. In 1997, the city of Warsaw sold this company to the Austrian Bau Holding AG ( Ilbau holding company ), which had offered the highest price; $ 24 million was paid for 80 percent of the shares in Syrena .
Privatization was controversial. The negotiations were opaque and the company Finvest, which advised the city, was largely unknown. So the rumor arose that one or more members of the city magistrate had demanded bribes from Austrian investors. The public prosecutor stopped the initial investigation.
The new investor promised to invest 42 million dollars in the renewal of the acquired properties. Initial investments should be made within six years. Failure to meet this deadline should result in a fine of several million euros. Bau Holding's original plans also included a renovation of the Saski Hotel . Of the far-reaching plans, only the renovation of the Polonia Hotel has been carried out to a large extent, albeit with a delay. Therefore, the city demanded a contractual penalty of 10 million euros from Bau Holding . An Austrian court rejected this claim.
Reallocation
In 2004, a company owned by the Polish businessman Artur Jarczyński acquired the property from Syrena . The new owner company is called Plac Bankowy 1 (Sp.z oo) ; Jarczyński and the former city architect Michał Borowski are members of the management. The former hotel building is to be converted into an exclusive office building that will largely resemble the previous property from the outside. After completion, the building will have over 6,700 square meters of office space and appeal to tenants who appreciate the charm and style of the classicistic building.
The building will be higher than in the previous use. Another storey will be added to the raised roof, and the windows will be designed as dormers. This extra floor created a lot of controversy. Leading architectural historians such as university professors Jadwiga Roguska and Andrzej Rottermund saw the new shape of the roof as a disruptive element in the surrounding architecture. However, the city's monument protection office would not have approved an increase in the core building by a regular floor. The renovation project was carried out by Henryk Łaguna (MAAS architects).
The converted building will have an additional wing on the south side, which will evenly encompass the inner courtyard that was previously adjacent to the neighboring building. A publicly accessible terrace is to be created in this inner courtyard. The project for the design of this terrace and associated shops and restaurants lies with the set designer Allan Starski . The client states that around 90% of the old building shape will be retained in the renovation. A two-story underground car park with 50 parking spaces will be built under the inner courtyard.
The cost of the reconstruction is estimated at 25 million zloty. The property should be completed by autumn 2012. The striking neon advertising on the roof of the hotel (“Hotel Saski”) will be dismantled and will be exhibited in a museum in the future.
literature
- Julius A. Chroscicki and Andrzej Rottermund, Architectural Atlas of Warsaw , 1st edition, Arkady, Warsaw 1978, p. 232
Web links
- Brief information on Kamienica Kosseckiej at Urbanity.pl
- Historic photo of the building from the turn of the century
- Design drawing for the new office building
References and comments
- ^ Karol Henryk Galle (1782–1829) was a Polish architect
- ↑ from: Der Voices imitator , p. 80 and Gesammelte Prosa, Werke 14 , p. 284, both Suhrkamp-Verlag
- ↑ according to maj (author's abbreviation ), Prywatyzacja nie wyszła? ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at Gazeta.pl (Kraj) on February 9, 2005 (in Polish, the website is chargeable)
- ↑ Artur Jarczyński is a Polish businessman who has been running restaurants in Warsaw and other Polish cities since 1991. He is the owner of the Warsaw restaurants “Kompania Piwna”, “U Szwejka”, “San Antonio” and “Jeffs”. He runs the restaurants "Der Elefant" and "U Fiszera" on the ground floor of the Saski hotel building
- ↑ according to Tomasz Urzykowski and Michał Wojtczuk, Hotel Saski przestanie straszyć. Zostanie biurowcem on Gazeta.pl (Warszawa) from April 6, 2011 (in Polish)
- ↑ according to Monika Górecka-Czuryłło, Banery z Hotelu Saskiego znikną jesienią ( Page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as broken. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at ZycieWarszawy.pl from April 6, 2011 (in Polish)
- ↑ according to Article Hotel Saski zmieni się w biurowiec on Bazabiur.pl from April 6, 2011 (in Polish)
- ↑ according to Aleksandra Pinkas and Natalia Bet, Stare neony ocaleją at Rzeczpospolita / Zycie Warszawy from April 8, 2011 (in Polish)
Coordinates: 52 ° 14 ′ 30.9 ″ N , 21 ° 0 ′ 10.8 ″ E