Skyscrapers of Warsaw: Intraco I

Intraco I

Main data:

Height to the roof: 107 m
Total height: 138 m
Number of floors: 39
Year of construction: 1975
Designer: BPA Bygproduction AB
Location: ul. Stawki 2

Intraco is the second oldest, after Forum Hotel (currently Novotel Warszawa Centrum) among Warsaw skyscrapers. It was constructed in 1975 by Swedish company BPA Bygproduction AB Sweden. The building is situated in Stawki street, at northern outskirts of the centre, next to the border with historical residental area Zoliborz. In the neighbourhood of Intraco new underground station Dworzec Gdanski was constructed lately. The station has increased much the attractiveness of this area. And on the other side of Andersa street the construction of second skyscraper, that will form together with Intraco a symbolic gate leading to the centre, started lately.

The architecture of the building is not complicated, the building has a very simple box shape. One of the journalists from Wyborcza newspaper even described it ones as a board put on end. Indeed, the building is very long but narrow, the front side, from Stawki street is much longer than the side from Andersa street. But it does not mean that the building is ugly. Its simplicity makes it elegant.

A few years ago the building's elevation used to be much devastated. The previous light green colour of the building was gradually coming grey. And tiles, that had been used in 1970s for covering the elevation, were coming off. Swedish designers of the building had overestimated those material's durability. That was why the renovation of the building was started in 1998. Devastated tiles were replaced with new, light green covering. And also one new floor was added on the top. While this modernization, a small accident happened. During the renovation works, polystyrene the building were covered with, caught fire. Nowadays, because of safety reasons, that material is not used in construction industry anymore, but in 1970s it used to be quite popular. Fortunetely, nobody suffered during this accident and also the building's damage was not serious. The modernisation was finished soon and today Intraco looks very pretty.

Intraco is a typical office building, its standard is very high. Its total usable area is approximetely 31500 metres, there are located on 39 floors. Besides offices, there are also here bank, two restaurants, conference halls, bar, kiosk, hairdressing saloon, florists, fitness centre and sauna. And in the underground there is a car park for about 200 cars. The whole building is air-conditioned and equipped with communication devices. The building is 107 metres high. If we count the antenna on the top of the building, the total height is 138 metres, so that makes it eighth highest building in Warsaw.

More information of the building and about the possibilities of renting offices in it can be found on the website of Intraco S.A., the company that manages the building: www.intraco.pl.