Skyscrapers of Warsaw: BBI Development (Plac Unii)

BBI Development (Plac Unii)

Main data:

Height to the roof: 90 m
Total height: 90 m
Number of floors: 23
Planned term of finishing: 2013
Designers: Kuryłowicz & Accociates
Location: ul. Puławska 2

In the beginning of 19th century the area of today's Unii Lubelskiej Square was a southern gate to the city. Mokotowskie Toll Houses, characteristic buildings, which exist until today, were built at that time here. Today this area is also a kind of symbolic gate, but no longer to the whole city, only to the city centre. A new, 90-metre skyscraper, which will be constructed here soon, will underline this fact.

The history of this place is quite interesting. In the beginning of 20th century in the place of the skyscraper, a start station of a narrow-gauge railway was situated. Its track led to Piaseczno and Góra Kalwaria. Later, the route was lengthen to Nowe Miasto nad Pilica. But already in 1930s it turned out that the train interfere the street traffic too much and, step by step, its line has been shortened, its sections inside the city have been liquidated. The station at Unii Lubelskiej Square existed until 1935 (today only a fragment of the narrow-gauge railway line between Piaseczno and Grójec functions).

Just before Second World War, in 1938, a decision of constructing a Polish Radio skyscraper in this place was made. The building was supposed to be one of essential composition elements of so-called Marshal Piłsudski Quarter - a new district, which were planned in the area of Pole Mokotowskie. The 70-metre-high skyscraper, designed by Bohdan Pniewski, if built, it would have become the highest building of Warsaw at that time. But because of the outbreak of the Second World War it was never built.

In 1962 another interesting object was built in this place. It was a famous Supersam - a modernistic building, of unique architecture and structure, where the first self-service shop in Warsaw was located. Unfortunately this valuable building does not exist anymore, it was demolished in 2006. Initially, there was a plan to regain fragments of its structure and to reconstruct the building in a different place. But it turned out that those elements are too devastated to make this reconstruction possible.

In the end of September 2010 in the place of former Supersam the construction of a new trade and office centre began. Two companies, BBI Development and Liebrecht & Wood are its investors. The complex will consist of a a lower, 6-floored part and a 90-metre-high tower. On first floors shops will be located, among other things also a supermarket, led by the same company, which used to led Supersam before. The 90-metre-high skyscraper will have an unusual form, it will be constructed on a plan of a triangle, which is supposedly a reference to the arrangement of streets in this place. An estimated total usable area of the complex will be approximately 55 thousand square metres, and its total cost - about 300 million zlotys.

The former station of narrow-gauge railway in the place of the skyscraper: