Użycie betonowych prefabrykatów elewacyjnych w wybranych realizacjach nowych polskich budynków użyteczności publicznej. Znaczenia formalne i technologia

Marcin Charciarek

doi:10.37190/arc240305

Streszczenie

W artykule zaprezentowano wybrane przykłady polskich budynków użyteczności publicznej będących próbą poszukiwania współczesnych znaczeń architektonicznych w technologiach prefabrykacji betonowej. Prefabrykacja – coraz bardziej widoczna w polskim krajobrazie – nie tylko staje się alternatywą budowlaną dla systemów monolitycznych, ale także jest wybierana przez architektów jako idealna technologia do realizacji autorskich zamierzeń estetycznych. Dodatkowym celem autora jest analiza dostępnych źródeł poruszających tematykę prefabrykacji betonowych rozwiązań elewacyjnych pod kątem oddziaływania na wyraz estetyczny obiektów architektonicznych oraz ukazanie wybranego typu prefabrykacji poprzez detal techniczny i budowlany. Współczesna architektura betonowa coraz częściej podlega prefabrykacji ze względu na coraz wyższe wymagania techniczne i jakościowe. Cytowane wzorce zastosowań modułowych rozwiązań elewacyjnych dowodzą, że nie muszą one ograniczać swobody projektowej architekta i mogą stanowić alternatywę dla wyjścia z utartych nurtów monolitycznego budownictwa betonowego.

Słowa kluczowe:
beton
prefabrykacja
architektura polska

Podgląd pełnego artykułu jest możliwy wyłącznie na większych ekranach.

2024

3(79)

Marcin Charciarek*

The use of precast concrete façade elements

in selected projects of new Polish public buildings.

Formal meanings and technology

Introduction

The examples presented in the article illustrate the two

main assumptions determining the text’s formula. First of

all, architecture is always an attempt to materialize an idea.

Secondly, through the presentation of technology and con-

struction details, the author wants to show the process of

ennoblement (or perhaps rehabilitation) of concrete build-

ing materials in architecture as a way of searching for new

artistic values. The order established in this way is a way

of presenting prefabricated concrete architecture through

its formal representation and creation, which consists in

transferring individual meanings and emotions into the

building material. In this context, the detail is an obvious

end for the materialization of the idea, as well as the be-

ginning of the idealization of concrete architecture.

The research problem of the article is to point to the

technology of prefabricated concrete architecture, which,

DOI: 10.37190/arc240305

Published in open access. CC BY NC ND license

associated with unication and uniformity of use, reveals

the diversity of the world of forms and architectural mean-

ings that follow the shapes. Prefabricated buildings dier

not only in their formal expression, but also in their cre-

ative approach to detail as the essence of every creation in

concrete architecture

Objective

The aim of the work is to show, using selected ex-

amples of Polish public architecture, how the choice of

prefabrication concrete technology aects the formal and

semantic shape of buildings. Prefabrication – increasing-

ly visible in the Polish landscape – is not only becoming

a construction alternative to monolithic systems, but is

also chosen by architects as an ideal technology for im-

plementing their own aesthetic intention.

An important reason for taking up the topic of the latest

Polish prefabrication is the deepening denition of the term

“concrete architecture” as a distinct, expressive aesthetic

relationship in which concrete becomes an ideological,

* ORCID: 0000-0001-9634-3902. Faculty of Architecture, Cracow

University of Technology, Poland, e-mail: marcinch@pk.edu.pl

Abstract

The article is a presentation of selected examples of Polish public architecture as an attempt to search for contemporary architectural meanings and

their expression in prefabrication concrete technologies. Prefabrication – increasingly visible in the Polish scenery – is not only becoming a construc-

tion alternative to monolithic systems, but is also chosen by architects as the ideal technology to implement their aesthetic intentions. An additional

goal of the work is to analyse available sources on the topic of prefabrication of concrete façade solutions, in terms of their impact on the aesthetic

expression of architectural objects, and to present the selected type of prefabrication through technical and construction details.

Contemporary concrete architecture is increasingly subject to prefabrication due to higher technical and quality requirements. The cited patterns

of application of modular façade solutions prove that they do not have to limit the architect’s design freedom and can be an alternative to leaving the

beaten tracks of monolithic concrete construction.

Key words: concrete, prefabrication, Polish architecture

46 Marcin Charciarek

structural, formal and material intention. In this context,

the term “concrete architecture” (French: l’architecture du

béton, Italian: architettura in calcestruzzo) means den-

ing the ideological (formal and semantic) value of archi-

tecture created in concrete. This term determines a certain

scope not only for attempts to technologically imagine an

architectural shape, but also is the architect’s will in unique

treatment of the selected material.

An additional aim of the work is to analyse the avail-

able sources on the subject of prefabrication of concrete

façade solutions in terms of their impact on the aesthetic

expression of architectural objects and to present the se-

lected type of prefabrication through technical and con-

struction details.

Methods

The article discusses those architectural ideas that seem

exemplary in reading the connections between the idea

and the prefabricated matter of architecture. An analysis

was carried out of selected public buildings implemented

in the years 2017–2021 using prefabricated technology

(case studies), which appeared in the Polish public space

as “reference objects” in the selection of technologies and

thus received industry awards – e.g., the annual Polish Ce-

ment in Architecture award or SARP Awards.

Literature studies were conducted on the connections

between the idea of concrete architecture and concrete

technology and prefabrication. A query was conducted on

contemporary concrete technology and the principles of

its design and incorporation. Photographs, author’s draw-

ings, execution details borrowed from design oces, au-

thor’s descriptions, construction descriptions were helpful

in individual analyses. Due to the – still – small number of

examples, the eld of research was limited to a few repre-

sentative available technological solutions. The technical

solutions presented in the article reect the state, time and

possibilities of current system solutions – and therefore

available in Polish realities. Due to their very detailed

construction specicity, the original drawings were adapt-

ed by the author to the possibilities of publication.

State of research

It seems that the lack of interest in this type of technol-

ogy in the 1990s was reected in the poor presentation of

the topic of prefabrication in scientic studies or indus-

try publications. One of the few, but very important and

complete, is certainly the monograph by Andrzej Basista

(2001), in which the author analysed and summarized ev-

erything that contributed to the extreme judgment of con-

crete and its products – including the so-called large slab

and other prefabrication systems.

Currently, the results of the query conducted by the

author of this text indicate that the scope of studies de-

voted to concrete prefabrication is an intensively develop-

ing science and technology – especially in countries with

a high level of material knowledge at technical universi-

ties and laboratories in Western Europe and in the United

States. This is accompanied by a very rich literature that

is a review of each type of prefabricated construction,

various concrete technologies, typical and unusual con-

struction solutions and architectural formations resulting

from these analyses. This extensive knowledge is built on

studies synthesizing system solutions, by: David Bennett

(2005), Friedbert Kind-Barkauskas et al. (2002) or Alfred

Steinle et al. (2019), ending with studies presenting de-

tailed solutions for architects, e.g., “Detail” (Peck 2016).

In Poland, after decades of rejecting concrete prefab-

rication (related to the low quality of the so-called large-

panel construction, inexibility and uneconomical solutions

in residential construction), certain dierentia specica can

be observed, i.e., a return to thinking about prefabricated

architecture in terms of economizing construction and

rationalizing architectural form. Not without signicance

for the use of this type of technology is the idea of sustain-

able development, in the context of which prefabrication

of concrete corresponds to everything that is part of the

trend of lower energy use, building material or its reuse.

The increasingly visible degree of implementation of

prefabrication has been intensied, and the awareness of

building with cheaper and less energy-consuming materi-

al has resulted in the introduction of new concrete tech-

nologies into residential, industrial and public construc-

tion systems. This is illustrated by the increased number

of publications in recent years – by Grzegorz Adamczew-

ski, Paweł Woyciechowski (2015), Paweł Mika (2011),

Krzysztof Kuniczuk (2011). There is also a visible return

to recognized publications from the Polish People’s Re-

public period by Carl Krause (1974) or Ludwik Cejzner

(1976). Since 2000, more and more catalogues and guides

have appeared published by individual prefabricated con-

crete factories. A very important role in promoting the

idea of prefabrication has been played by the conferences

of the Concrete Producers Association and the Cement

Producers Association organized in recent years. Annual

conference publications are evidence of new insight into

the issues of concrete prefabricate

Results

The change in the approach to the issue of prefabrica-

tion in architecture is evidenced by the increasing number

of very prestigious projects carried out using this technol-

ogy, especially in recent years. After a period of dicult

experiences with monolithic technology, the choice be-

tween new concrete technologies has become an import-

ant element of the creator’s thinking about the architec-

tural form, and consequently – about the construction and

implementation design. Architects take into account not

n Poland, there are no clear regulations governing the process

of designing and making concrete elements from architectural concrete.

The most commonly used is the study by Krzysztof Kuniczuk entitled

pt. Beton architektoniczny – wytyczne techniczne [Architectural concrete

– technical guidelines] (2011) published by the Association of Cement

Producers, with the help of which the architect should select the category

of architectural concrete and dene the parameters concerning porosi-

ty, uniformity of colour and formwork category, determine the exposure

classes due to freezing/thawing, and also determine the cost of execution.

The use of precast concrete façade elements in selected projects of new Polish public buildings 47

only all the elements of implementation – starting from

the costs of the design and construction, concrete speci-

cations or implementation time – but also increasingly of-

ten decide on prefabrication due to the predictable quality

of the obtained concrete and the possibility of including

an original idea in it. This also results from the obvious

advantages of prefabrication – its production in a plant

designed for this purpose, in optimal conditions, in which

it is possible to ensure constant quality control, better than

that achieved on the construction site, using, e.g., mono-

lithic concrete.

This trend is also associated with the signicant need to

recognize the construction process as an element of sus-

tainable development, which imposes the use of solutions

that reduce the consumption of energy and raw materials

in every area of life (Mika 2016, 8). Serial production,

multiple use of high-quality forms, formwork and almost

complete mechanization of the production process signi-

cantly accelerate production, and the abandonment of full

formwork and scaolding shortens the process of building

the facility. In the production process, prefabricated ele-

ments obtain not only the target technical characteristics

(e.g., strength), which reduces technological breaks in the

construction of the facility (related to, e.g., maturation of

the concrete of structural elements), but also visual (aes-

thetic – washed, etched, sandblasted, polished concrete),

which in in situ technologies were often a problem for de-

signers and contractors due to unpredictable eects result-

ing from the lack of execution rigor. An additional advan-

tage of concrete prefabrication is the routine assembly of

elements by specialized teams and the use of such design

solutions that accelerate assembly work. Prefabrication is

becoming a recognized (although not always available),

learned and understandable construction technique for

architects, which they can use without restrictions, but

which requires conscious agreement with all parties to the

investment in order to ensure the nal shape of the archi-

tecture assumed in the original idea.

In the Służewiec district of Warsaw, in the former in-

dustrial zone, the P4 hotel and oce complex (2017)

al concept is to be created by four buildings, two higher

7-storey buildings and two lower 4-storey buildings. The

visible, raw structure of the buildings was created using

the concrete monolith technique and prefabricated ele-

ments: reinforced concrete frame structures made in situ

nished with a concrete cladding system. The distinctive

elements of the buildings that give them character are

V-shaped pillars and massive beams. The functional ex-

ibility of the project is due to the ordered frame structure,

which is an interpretation of Le Corbusier’s “plan libre”

creating freedom of elevation.

The two completed buildings show the search for a bru-

talist model for this type of architecture. The expression of

P4 buildings nds the meaning of architecture in the logic

of the brutalist idea of as found (Banham 1966), which is

carried out with an evident message of a strong and ex-

pressive formal concept (Fig. 1). However, these are not

buildings referring to the patterns of the 1960s and 1970s,

traditionally built from the raw face of façade concrete.

Fig. 1. Warsaw, P4 Hotel and Office Complex, designed by JEMS, 2017

(photo by M. Charciarek)

Il. 1. Warszawa, zespół hotelowo-biurowy P4, proj. JEMS, 2017

(fot. M. Charciarek)

In P4, the texture of the formwork was replaced by well-

thought-out and elegant geometries of prepared concrete

cladding on all external structural elements. The approach

to the attempt to monumentalize the scale of both build-

ings and their strong, repeatable articulation is certainly

brutalist. The structural system of the whole – ceilings,

beams, columns – visible outside and inside, is an essen-

tial element shaping both the side and front façades of

individual buildings, and also creates the individual char-

acter of the interiors.

Although the basic structure of the entire P4 complex

was made using monolithic technology, the main aesthetic

function is performed by prefabricated elements. Individ-

ual fragments and details were created from a mix based

on white cement and crushed granite aggregate with a gra-

dation of 2–16 mm tested on a mock-up (on a 1:1 scale).

Almost 20 dierent tests were performed before the eect

desired by the architects was achieved. All prefabricated

elements on a scale were made on steel forms that were

designed and manufactured in a prefabrication factory

near Warsaw. The eect of exposed aggregate was created

by covering the forms with an agent that retards the set-

ting of the mixture at the very face of the precast element,

which, after hardening, was mechanically rinsed under

high pressure at the appropriate moment. The shape of the

48 Marcin Charciarek

forms and the density of the mix were designed so that the

aggregate would be properly distributed at the walls, in

places where the setting delay was planned.

According to the main contractor, the P4 buildings con -

sist of 1,880 prefabricated elements with a total surface area

of 7,808.5 m

. The largest span of the element is 723 cm.

Horizontal prefabricated elements serving as cornices

be tween oors act as a re-proof partition. The building

elevations included a total of 186 types of prefabricated

elements (dierent shapes and sizes) (Pięciak 2020). The

prefabricated elements in the hotel building, facing the

street and in the oce building located deep in the plot,

do not dier in texture and colour (Fig. 2).

In the landscape of Polish architecture, Bolesław Stel-

mach’s implementations are exceptionally expressive in

terms of materials. Within the search for “new structures”,

there is still a visible tendency to give a monumental char-

acter to architectural form found in the dialogue of mod-

ernist patterns and elementary, classical references. Stel-

mach’s “monumental concrete” and “analogue concrete”

are the equivalent of the synthesis of form practiced by

David Chippereld – somewhere between contemporary

reductionism and the classical trend (Stelmach 2013).

The white, six-story building of the Sejm Committees

in Warsaw (2019) (Fig. 3) seems to be a pure emanation

of the representation of the architecture of public authori-

ty – all thanks to the rhythmic “coatings” of light concrete,

which, also in their classic division and modulation, cre-

ate the impression of seriousness and security – important

and appropriate meanings in the case of centres of highest

state authorities. The building of the Sejm Committees

also refers in its expression to the elite source of the Lat-

in word classicus, derived from the term classis – class

– referring to the social, political and educational layers

and at the same time reecting the sense of prestige and

norms of European democracy (Hrankowska 1994, 14).

In Stelmach’s building, the main formal principle is the

arrangement of rhythmic prefabricated concrete pilasters

and walls, supported on the entire perimeter by a prefabri-

cated concrete cornice (Fig. 4). The pilasters do not have

capitals or a separate tympanum. Decorum was replaced

by the rationalist aesthetics of a technical structure serving

as support and background for pure technical concrete.

The typied and reduced form forced everything that

was invented in reinforced concrete to be the result of

a well-thought-out technology – from designing reusable

formwork to building many versions of the mock-up in

a 1:1 scale. All this to produce over 500 external pillars

that constitute the façades of the parliament building. The

colour of the entire facility is very important – the white-

ness of the concrete material was not only supposed to

refer to the attributes of democratic power, but was also

supposed to be a reference to the Kielce sandstone and

limestone from which the neoclassical main building of

the Sejm of the Republic of Poland is built (Stiasny “Bu-

dynek Komisji Sejmowych”).

The evident neo-classical rationalism of the Sejm

building establishes the dominance of geometry inherent

in the character of public architecture, organized by a sys-

tem of divisions and proportions that make the building

Fig. 2. Warsaw, P4 Hotel and Office Complex,

detail of the façade, designed by JEMS, 2017

(drawing by M. Charciarek)

Il. 2. Warszawa, zespół hotelowo-biurowy P4, detal fasady,

proj. JEMS, 2017 (rys. M. Charciarek)

The use of precast concrete façade elements in selected projects of new Polish public buildings 49

an accessible and recognizable form. Contemporary ver-

sions of pilaster strips, pilasters, cornices and trellises are,

in a way, another incarnation of monumental architectural

orders transformed over decades. Also evident for Stel-

mach are the elements that build material identity: mass,

volume, structure, and also the properties of building ma-

terials: the size and thickness of concrete, the colour of

glass, the colour of steel.

Special attention to architectural detail can be seen in

the Museum of the Polish Army in Warsaw – one of the

elements of the urban development on the Warsaw Cita-

del, built according to the 2009 competition design by the

WXCA Pracownia Projektowa team (Fig. 5). According

to the terms of the competition, the area dened by the

outline of the former Russian fortress was developed as

a compositional spatial and functional assumption, refer-

ring in scale, colour and layout to the historical architec-

tural and urban layout. The whole will eventually consist

of the Polish History Museum, centrally located in rela-

tion to the main square, and the anking twin pavilions of

the Polish Army Museum.

The simple and rectangular solids speak with their vol-

ume, emphasising the total aesthetics of architectural con-

crete. As Szczepan Wroński, the author of the building,

says: In order for the planes drawing the space to resound

properly, an unquestionable and sincere massiveness of

the building material was necessary. Unquestionable and

delightful. After examining a number of paths, among the

potential materials, architectural concrete coloured in

the

mass in a warm brick-red colour, but not too intense, but

slight ly dimmed (Dworzak-Żak 2019, 61), was decided upon.

The results of the design work show that the WXCA

architects understand Louis Kahn’s sentence that the

“soul” of architecture, as a category of non-measurable

values, is – simply – a phase of work on detail, compo-

sition and the search for an initial form – some ordering

primary form that is mysteriously transformed into a real

object

. At the Citadel, coloured concrete was to become

a means of expression and communication, facilitating

According to Kahn, the detail is the beginning of the idealisation

of any architecture: […] when one is confronted with a fragment, re-

gardless of size, structure, light, one reacts to its character, its spiritual

atmosphere, one notices that everything that man proposes and realizes

becomes a single entity ([after:] D.B. Brownlee 1992, 69).

Fig. 4. Warsaw, the Building of the Sejm Committees,

detail of the façade, designed by Stelmach and Partners, 2019

(drawing by M. Charciarek)

Il. 4. Warszawa, Budynek Komisji Sejmowych, detal fasady,

proj. Stelmach i Partnerzy, 2019

(rys. M. Charciarek)

Fig. 3. Warsaw, the Building of the Sejm Committees,

(photo by M. Czechowicz)

Il. 3. Warszawa, Budynek Komisji Sejmowych,

proj. Stelmach i Partnerzy, 2019

(fot. M. Czechowicz)

50 Marcin Charciarek

an understanding of “what the building wants to be”

(Brownlee 1992), while also being an interpretation of the

architect’s “concrete sensibility”.

The leitmotif became the spatial pattern on the façades

– the chevron relief – a repetitive motif, 15 cm wide, which

in a subtle way alludes to elements associated with the mil-

itary. The ambiguity of this geometric ornament makes it

possible to nd in it hussar wings, military ranks or the

weave of a general’s cord. This modelling of the façade’s

surface means that the play of light and shadow heightens

the feeling of “tangibility” and tactile impressions (Pallas-

maa 2012). Concrete was treated as a medium for mem-

ory, the past and the military legacy of the Polish nation.

It proved to be very important to nd suitable colours

for the façade elements that would be appropriate in the

important context of the Citadel’s brick buildings. Hun-

dreds of specimens of pattern-printed and smooth surface

coloured concrete were therefore examined (texture, co-

lour, quality of chevron reproduction, visual eects af-

ter the application of anti-grati treatment). In the next

stage, it was very important to produce a full-scale mock-

up presenting the variety of solutions and clarifying the

architects’ requirements and the contractor’s capabilities.

Setting the mock-up at the height of the target building

(approx. 16 m) additionally allowed for the development

of details concerning the colour, texture, concrete texture,

chevron scale, exposure to light, weather conditions or the

juxtaposition (interfaces) of concrete with other materials

(Adamowicz 2021).

According to the study, architectural face concrete clas -

sied as BA3 was adopted (Kuniczuk 2011). After test-

ing dozens of samples (60 × 60 × 5 cm) for the correct

colouration of the concrete, a mixture with a colouration

of 5 per cent was used entirely from one concrete manu-

facturer. In order to achieve a uniform colour and texture

of the façade, it was also necessary to maintain the same

technological conditions at all times (perfectly reproduc-

ible composition of the concrete mixture, concrete feeding

method, its vibration, care), which is also impossible to

achieve in the long term. Ultimately, wall section matri-

ces with reliefs 120 cm wide and 735 cm high and a cor-

ner matrix were made, on which, among other things, the

technology of making chevrons was tested

(Fig. 6).

System formwork with rubber matrices was adopted. The form-

work storage area was covered with tarpaulins to keep it clean and to

protect the dies from UV radiation.

Fig. 5. Warsaw, Museum of Polish Army, detail of the façade,

(drawing by M. Charciarek)

Il. 5. Il. 5. Warszawa, Muzeum Wojska Polskiego, detal fasady,

proj. WXCA Pracownia projektowa, 2022

(rys. M. Charciarek)

Fig. 6. Warsaw, Museum of Polish Army,

(photo by M. Charciarek)

Il. 6. Warszawa, Muzeum Wojska Polskiego,

proj. WXCA Pracownia projektowa, 2022

(fot. M. Charciarek)

The use of precast concrete façade elements in selected projects of new Polish public buildings 51

The concrete chevron of the Museum of the Polish

Army is to become, as it were, a “matrix” of national

memory, a concise and essential sign that formulates the

meaning of the museum. The geometric visual sign in con-

crete is meant to be a vestige facilitating the understanding

that monument belong to that sphere of the human imag-

ination which is responsible for the feature of idealising

history by bringing together in one place everything that

concerns material and immaterial history. The culture and

collective experience contained in them become a trace of

each nation’s history and, with the help of the narrative of

form and matter, a means of communication and a carrier

of values (Forty 2009).

The belief that the monument is built by the tangibility

of the physical material is accompanied by the belief of

the WXCA architects in the existence of an immaterial,

hidden expression – the “character” of concrete – a syn-

thesis of idea and form derived from it.

The Nowy Targ oce building (2019) is a seven-sto-

rey building precisely integrated into the urban landscape

in the centre of Wrocław. The oce building stands near

St. Catherine’s Church, closing the frontage of Nowy Targ

Square (Fig. 7).

The architectural design of the oce building was creat-

ed by the studio of Zbigniew Maćków, an architect known

for his search for architecture that is always a response to

the existing spatial, historical or formal context. This time,

the architect gave the building the form of a modular vol-

ume with ordered, rhythmic divisions. The project’s author

explained in an interview that the aim was to create archi-

tecture with a truly metropolitan character – he claimed:

Architecture has a tremendous power to inuence space,

people and the living pattern of the next generations. This

is why it is so important to create a well-thought-out de-

sign of a building so that it communicates naturally with

its surroundings, its inhabitants, and at the same time re-

fers to the history and specicity of the place in which it

is being built. This is precisely the idea behind the Nowy

Targ oce building in Wrocław (Sołomiewicz “Zbigniew

Maćków opowiada o projektowaniu Nowego Targu we

Wrocławiu”).

In this very rigorously dened context, one can see the

intention to create an architecture with a good, adapted

scale to the surroundings and the sustainability of the ma-

terial solutions. At the same time, an eort was made to

create a model of an oce building that is not an introvert-

ed structure that only takes advantage of the ideal location

and the existing infrastructure of the city. The classical

(composed of prefabricated lesenes and cornices) order of

the newly designed frontage has its source in the rationalist

expression of the architecture, whose visual rigour is more

important than any formal expression. The homogeneity of

the façade, the proportions applied between the individual

elements of the massing, and its rhythmic divisions allude

to an architecture that achieves the status of a landmark

in the complex space of the city. Discipline can be seen

Fig. 7. Wrocław, Nowy Targ

Office Building, designed by

Atelier Maćków, 2019

(photo by M. Lulko)

Il. 7. Wrocław, Biurowiec Nowy

Targ, proj. Atelier Maćków, 2019

(fot. M. Lulko)

52 Marcin Charciarek

lated into the principle: more by less. Analysing the ele-

ments and their structural aliation, the designer divides

the parts of the building into those created by measure and

technique, order and light, and the physicality of trans-

formed concrete. The quality of the building suggests that

there is no good architecture without sensitivity and con-

sistency; what is needed is the designer’s specic sensitiv-

ity, but also his knowledge and precision in the technical

action and elaboration of the details, accompanied by an

awareness of the matter in the careful workmanship of

specialised craftsmen.

Conclusions

Nowadays, concrete architecture, due to the high-qual-

ity requirements for materials, is increasingly subject to

prefabrication. The cited application examples of modu-

lar façade solutions prove that they do not have to limit

the architect’s design freedom and, in addition, the use of

prefabrication technology can oer an alternative to the

outgoing trend of monolithic concrete construction. This

in the window elements, the elevations and dimensions of

the spatial elements of the façades, which are dierentiated

according to their compositional role and position within

each façade. Prefabricated elements in the form of slabs

and spatial elements (cornices, inter-window pillars) made

of C35/45 grade architectural concrete, reinforced with

steel rods and dispersed bre (Fig. 8), protected against

water penetration by hydrophobisation, were used for the

external wall cladding. The total number of precast ele-

ments is almost 2,500 pieces in more than 370 types. The

method of surface nish was chosen after analysis of three

mock-up versions (Fig. 9) (Maćków “Biurowiec Nowy

Targ we Wrocławiu”).

In all parts of the building, it is evident that the legacy

of the 20

century – the principle of less is more − is trans-

Fig. 8. Wrocław, Nowy Targ Office Building,

detail of the façade, designed by Atelier Maćków, 2019

(drawing by M. Charciarek)

Il. 8. Wrocław, Biurowiec Nowy Targ,

detal fasady, proj. Atelier Maćków, 2019 (rys. M. Charciarek)

Fig. 9. Wrocław, Nowy Targ Office Building,

detail of the concrete façade, designed by Atelier Maćków, 2019

(photo by M. Charciarek)

Il. 9. Wrocław, Biurowiec Nowy Targ,

detal prefabrykowanej fasady, proj. Atelier Maćków, 2019

(fot. M. Charciarek)

The use of precast concrete façade elements in selected projects of new Polish public buildings 53

process also results from the savings planned by investors

– energy and implementation time – as well as due to the

complexity of the structures being implemented and the

expected quality of elements that play a key role in shap-

ing the aesthetics of façades. The presented objects, in

which prefabricated façade solutions were used, show that

the technology of making a modern façade is consistently

introduced into the landscape of Polish architecture. This

is due to the properties of the material itself and almost

complete freedom in shaping the form and aesthetics of

individual building elements. The variety of solutions and

selection of prefabricated elements in terms of aesthetics,

statics, structure and dimensions allows designers to free-

ly implement the idea of architecture by moving within

the framework of the desired aesthetic features contained

in prefabricated concrete.

This requires a not inconsiderable amount of knowledge

about prefabrication in terms of logistics (delivery to site

of prefabricated elements), the sense of seriality and repe-

tition of elements (lower cost of construction), dimensional

and execution modularity – everything related to a ratio-

nal and economical approach to design and construction.

Such a point of view does not exclude thinking of archi-

tecture as a unique work, created for the viewer in unison

by the architect, the specialists and the investor, who are

looking for architecture in an individual guise.

The presented experience of using precast concrete

demonstrates that architecture as a physical-prefabricated

structure is still the construction of an idea, so that the

material logic of the building must be recognisable along

with the idea being realised. This specic interdependence

in the presentation of the concept and the material of ar-

chitecture seems to be an attempt at the absolute self-de-

termination of one’s architecture – between the idea and

the material of the work.

Translated by

Krzysztof Barnaś

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Streszczenie

Użycie betonowych prefabrykatów elewacyjnych

w wybranych realizacjach nowych polskich budynków użyteczności publicznej.

Znaczenia formalne i technologia

W artykule zaprezentowano wybrane przykłady polskich budynków użyteczności publicznej będących próbą poszukiwania współczesnych zna-

czeń architektonicznych w technologiach prefabrykacji betonowej. Prefabrykacja – coraz bardziej widoczna w polskim krajobrazie – nie tylko

staje się alternatywą budowlaną dla systemów monolitycznych, ale także jest wybierana przez architektów jako idealna technologia do realizacji

autorskich zamierzeń estetycznych. Dodatkowym celem autora jest analiza dostępnych źródeł poruszających tematykę prefabrykacji betonowych

54 Marcin Charciarek

rozwiązań elewacyjnych pod kątem oddziaływania na wyraz estetyczny obiektów architektonicznych oraz ukazanie wybranego typu prefabrykacji

poprzez detal techniczny i budowlany.

Współczesna architektura betonowa coraz częściej podlega prefabrykacji ze względu na coraz wyższe wymagania techniczne i jakościowe. Cy-

towane wzorce zastosowań modułowych rozwiązań elewacyjnych dowodzą, że nie muszą one ograniczać swobody projektowej architekta i mogą

stanowić alternatywę dla wyjścia z utartych nurtów monolitycznego budownictwa betonowego.

Słowa kluczowe: beton, prefabrykacja, architektura polska