Vastint Poland has presented a conceptual design for the Nova Silesia hotel and office complex to be developed in the centre of Katowice at the site of the former Silesia hotel, built in 1970s. The project will consist of two 14-storey office buildings, a 7-storey hotel, and an underground parking garage. The buildings will provide approx. 30,000 m2 of high-class office space in the very centre of town, and 150 convenient hotel rooms.

Roger Andersson, Managing Director, Vastint Poland: ”We completed the design work related to the project. The Silesia hotel, now closed for 13 years, will be replaced by a multifunctional building complex that will generate increased traffic and life in this part of the city. Nova Silesia will significantly add to the existing volume of modern office space, and thereby increase Katowice’s competitiveness in seeking investors compared with other regional towns.”

On a plot more than 9,000 m2 at Ks. Piotra Skargi Street in Katowice, a hotel of approx. 5,000 m2and two office buildings with an area of 30,000 m2 will be developed. In accordance with the requirements of city zoning regulations, a minimum of 70% of the building’s ground-floors will be designated for public services. The hotel itself, with extended open meeting spaces and a bar on the ground-floor, will be open 24 hours a day.

The exterior of the buildings reflects their character: simple, repeated elements, materials of the highest quality, close attention to detail. Nova Silesia will constitute an elegant portion of the western wall of Katowice Town Square. The design of the buildings was carried out by APA Wojciechowski, with offices in Warsaw and the Tri-City.

Rafał Kociatkiewicz, Project Manager, Vastint Poland: “Construction of the office buildings will consist of precast elements of reinforced concrete, the facade itself conceived as a modern elemental facade. On the one hand, such technology imposes certain limits related to the building’s spatial form, both functional and aesthetic. On the other hand, however, it can provide a solid framework for the creation of buildings that are thoughtful and beautiful in their simplicity. In addition to that, one important aspect of such facades is the speed and accuracy with which they are assembled, and the fact that it requires a relatively small construction site to complete the task, which, in cases with city-centre locations, is of particular importance.

All three buildings will be constructed in accordance with principles of sustainable development, and will be certified according to international standards of energy-efficient buildings. LEED Gold certification and, in parallel, an equivalent certificate granted by WELL Building Institute to confirm that the buildings meet all international energy-efficiency standards.

The greatest advantage of the project is its remarkable location in the very centre of Katowice. The site is located at the intersection of Katowice’s main pedestrian walkways: one leading from the main railway station to Spodek Arena and Katowicka Strefa Kultury (Katowice Culture Zone), and the other which connects the Old Town and the University of Silesia, with its vital public transport hubs near the Supersam shopping centre.

From the outset of the design work, great emphasis has been given to the project’s integration with the surrounding urban landscape. The buildings were arranged in such manner that guarantees the free movement of pedestrians throughout the site. Between the buildings and Supersam, there will be a public pedestrian passageway, and at the centre of the complex, a public square with lots of green space to function as a rest-zone for the project’s occupants and pedestrians. The area in the immediate vicinity of the buildings will be levelled, without perimeters or barriers that might impede the movement of persons with reduced mobility – the disabled and the elderly.

Vehicular traffic at the site will be reduced to the bare minimum. Except for a small driveway to accommodate the bus, and a few spaces in front of the hotel, all parking areas will be located in the underground parking garage. The office building will have a 2-storey parking garage which will be available for use by Katowice’s residents on non-working days. An additional small car park for hotel guests will allow further minimizing of vehicular traffic related to the needs of hotel personnel near the intersection of Skargi and Wincklera Streets.

The investment project will connect to the existing bicycle infrastructure of Katowice thanks to its close proximity to the bicycle path that runs along ul. Winckler, with convenient access to Rawa River boulevards, the neighbouring areas in the northern portion of the plot. The number of bicycle racks planned in the project aligns with new standards from 2018 to shape the cycling infrastructure of the Upper Silesian-Zagłębie Metropolis.

Source: Vastint