Warsaw to demolish and replace communist-era skyscraper

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One of Warsaw’s first-ever skyscrapers, built in the 1970s when the country was under communist rule, will be demolished and replaced with a more modern equivalent, its owner, Polski Holding Nieruchomości (PHN), has announced.

Completed in 1975, the building, called Intraco, was home to the Foreign Trade Headquarters (Centrala Handlu Zagranicznego), a type of state enterprise in communist times that was tasked with acting as an intermediary in trade contacts with foreign countries.

“It was the first business centre in a very modern – for those times – form,” PHN’s CEO Wiesław Malicki told broadcaster TVN. “Everyone really wanted to have their offices in this building, because it was prestigious.”

The building, 107 metres tall and with 39 floors, has subsequently undergone multiple renovations, including its original ceramic-tile façade being replaced by glass panels in 1998.

Despite such efforts at modernisation, Intraco has become increasingly outdated and “no longer meets today’s technical standards and market expectations”, says PHN – hence it’s decision, announced last week, to demolish and replace the building.

“I don’t think it can be reworked indefinitely,” Malicki told TVN. “We have already reached a wall that probably won’t be crossed.”

“It was not an easy decision,” he added in the company’s official announcement, “and it is not an easy process, but a responsible approach to the energy efficiency of buildings and the growing expectations of all of us regarding safety does not allow us to postpone the inevitable.”

Current tenants – which include a branch of the state post office and Poland’s data protection agency, UODO – have until the end of the year to leave Intraco.

Subsequently, demolition is expected to take 12 to 16 months because the tower’s close proximity to other buildings rules out controlled explosions. The initial stages of deconstruction will be done by robots, PHN’s vice president Jacek Krawczykowski told TVN.

A new skyscraper will then be erected in its place, the design of which will pay tribute to the current building but which will conform to modern energy-efficiency and other environmental standards.

A visualisation of the planned new tower (from press materials)

“We want to make a link to the historic value of the current Intraco,” said Malicki. “The new building will allow us to maintain memories, [but] ensure modernity and safety,” Malicki added.

While the new building will have the same height as before, it will have only 23 floors, instead of 39, to comply with higher modern ceiling standards. Construction is expected to be completed by 2030.

Warsaw’s tallest building was for decades the Stalinist-era Palace of Culture and Science (PKiN), completed in 1955. However, in 2021 it was overtaken by Varso Tower, which, at 310 metres and with 53 floors, is the tallest building in the European Union.

Notes from Poland is run by a small editorial team and published by an independent, non-profit foundation that is funded through donations from our readers. We cannot do what we do without your support.

Main image credit: Patryk Korzeniecki/Wikimedia Commons (under CC BY 3.0)

Agata Pyka

Agata Pyka is an Assistant Editor at Notes from Poland. She specialises in Central and Eastern European affairs, cybersecurity, and investigative reporting. She holds a master’s degree in political communication from the University of Amsterdam, and her work has appeared in Euractiv, the Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN), and The European Correspondent, among others.