PKO BP (Centre for Credit Card Operations)
Main data:
Height to the roof: 71 m
Total height: 74 m
Number of floors: 17
Year of construction: 1976
Designer: ???
Location: ul. Wólczyńska 133
This one is the most peripherally located among Warsaw skyscrapers. It is located far away from the centre, in Bielany district, close to the border of the city. For many years it has been the only high building it his area, now some new residential buildings start to arise around it.
The building's location is quite unusual for one more reason - just next to it Bemowo airfield is situated. On aviation maps the skyscraper is marked as an aviation obstacle, so a very high object situated in the surrounding of an airfield. Actually, it is not located in the course of a runaway, so planes do not fly directly above it, but generally such high objects are rather not constructed in areas of airports, especially if there is no economic reason for it. What is more - we should remember that in the time when the building had been constructed, this airfield belonged to the army and was much larger than today. New housing estates in Bemowo district did not yet exist at that time, and in the place of today's Powstancow Slaskich street a second runaway was situated (we can see its remains even today - as concrete pavements on both sides of main carriageway). So probably the skyscraper's existence was at that time even a bigger problem than it is today. Some explanation of its origin can be a neighbourhood of the steelworks. The communistic authorities probably predicted much development of areas around it.
Until 1990s the buildings had very simple, glass elevation. In last years of the 20th century its modernisation took place, and the elevations has been replaced with pastel ones, which we can see today.
