The Riverview Complex designed by APA Wojciechowski Architects comprises 7 residential buildings with retail units erected on a former meat plant site. The dual nature of historic Gdańsk – bourgeois eclecticism and Hanseatic architecture – has been reflected in the detailed façades, brick walls, and sloping roofs. The project stands out with its landscape design and sustainable building solutions.
Riverview Complex Technical Information
- Architects1: APA Wojciechowski Architects
- Location: Angielska Grobla Street, Gdańsk, Poland
- Topics: Brick, Apartment Buildings
- Client: Vastint Polska
- General Contractor: CFE Polska
- Total area: 13.660 m2
- Usable floor area: 37.939 m2
- Project Year: 2018 – 2020
- Photographs: © Rafał Kłos, © Aleksander Małachowski
The project was inspired by both the Hanseatic architecture and the eclectic burgher architecture with the aim of creating a modern and timeless development characterised by minimalistic details with high quality finish.
– APA Wojciechowski Architects
Riverview Complex Photographs
Text by the Architects
The Riverview complex comprises seven buildings connected by an inner courtyard. Its urban layout features many openings facing the Main City and the Ołowianka river, making the structure light, flowing, and seamlessly fitting into the neighborhood. At the same time, when seen from the street’s perspective, the complex forms a compact frontage. There are also offices, green areas, and retail units in the development, which makes work, services, and leisure easily accessible to its residents. The Riverview complex offers easy access to the city center. A novelty on the housing market in Poland, all apartments in the complex are offered as ready-to-move units. It is also the first residential development in Poland that received LEED Gold certification.
The development is located within a listed heritage area. Due to the unique location and planning recommendations, the project’s character alludes to surrounding historical buildings. Its designers have also analyzed how the form of the Riverview complex fits into the city skyline seen from various vantage points. The project was inspired by both the Hanseatic architecture and the eclectic burgher architecture to create a modern and timeless development characterized by minimalistic details with a high-quality finish.
The aspect of locality was taken into account when choosing materials and reflected in cooperating with a Polish brickyard seated near Łódź to shorten the supply chain. Riverview’s shared space was created in collaboration with the Academy of Fine Arts students in Gdańsk. Young artists designed and produced the elements of small architecture. The shared green areas are full of luscious plants. Additional soil required for planting trees was heaped in soft hillocks that smoothly blend in with their surroundings. The panel over the underground car park was designed with the arrangement of the intended trees in mind.
View corridors from Na Stępce Street open to the river panorama. The inner courtyard was elevated above the street level to both enhance the riverside landscape experience and ensure privacy for the complex’s residents. To provide better light exposure of the apartments, the buildings’ large glass façades were divided into higher and lower parts, thus enhancing the final effect. The buildings structure is based mainly on reinforced concrete frame structures with a particular focus on the building envelope, which had to provide relevant anchorage and support the load of façade bricks. The complex has wooden rafter roofs.
The buildings feature cavity walls and ventilated façades. At the same time, the majority of the complex has the exterior finish of bricks manufactured at a brickyard with a one-hundred-year-old history. The designers took a modern approach by using minimalistic details and ensuring high-quality workmanship. The roofs are covered with ceramic roof tiles with a minimalistic, simple, and flat form. The flashings are muted grey. Wood window frames and the high-quality wood covering of terraces and balconies were used throughout the project.
Riverview Complex Plans
Riverview Complex Image Gallery
About APA Wojciechowski Architects
APA Wojciechowski Architects was established over 25 years ago. Currently, the studio employs over 120 architects in its Warsaw and Tricity locations, implementing its projects in Poland, Russia, Ukraine, and Lithuania. Guided by the principle of sustainable development, the office looks for design solutions that will bring the greatest ecological, economic, and social benefits within the assumed budget. APA Wojciechowski Architects is one of the Polish leaders in ecological design, which is confirmed by numerous certificates for buildings and green construction awards. Some of its best-known projects include the White Square Office Center and the White Gardens Office Center in Moscow, the UNIT.City in Kyiv, the Lviv, Tech.City in Lviv, Elektrownia Powiśle, Skyliner, The Park Warsaw and Latarnia (Port Praski) in Warsaw, Riverview housing estate and Alchemia in Gdańsk, as well as Centrum Południe and Business Garden Wrocław – both located in Wrocław.
Works from APA Wojciechowski Architects
Design Team: Szymon Wojciechowski, Dżafar Bajraszewski, Klara Janicka, Joanna Siejak, Piotr Gałecki, Daria Zając
Paweł Majewski, Piotr Janczewski, Katarzyna Pudlarz, Beata Książek, Monika Wielocha, Grzegorz Gurgacz, Karol Wojnarowski, Klaudia Lachcik
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