NAME: Reconstruction and adaptive reuse of tenement house in Łódź at 56 Sienkiewicza Street
Client: City of Łódź
Location: Łódź, ul. Sienkiewicza 56
Area: 1580 m2
Design Team: Karolina Taczalska, Maciej Taczalski, Natalia Mostowska, Katarzyna Komoń, Joanna Miecznikowska, Sandra Ambroziak-Giełzak
Photography: 4wymiar Rafał Tomczyk
Front part of this three-storey high tenement house, alongside its northern outbuilding was constructed in years 1890-1891. The design was conceived by a well-known Łódź architect Hilary Majewski. It is subject to conservation protection through an entry in the register of monuments of the Łódź Voivodeship. It is located in the area of the historic urban layout and cultural landscape under the name of "Dzielnica Prządków Lnu".
The interior of the building has undergone multiple reconstructions and multiple subdivisions, creating an internal functional layout that resulted in unwelcomed changes in the façade. In a very long and narrow courtyard, so distinctive of Łodź’s buildings of that time, several simplistic one-storey buildings of poor aesthetic value were raised, and the courtyard was paved with a low-cost paving stone. The garden in the back of the site, that once served the residents, has deteriorated, vandalised by people who made it feel like it’s no longer a safe place to be.
The aim of the project was to restore the building's historical value through a major renovation and reconstruction aimed at adapting the building to new functions, as well as creating the yard in the form of an attractive recreation and relaxation area. The elements of the historical design of the front elevation, gate clearance and staircases were subjected to conservation and restoration.
New social functions were introduced to the building, such as sheltered housing for people leaving foster care and people with mental disorders, and at the same time the existing residential function was maintained. The ground floor also introduces commercial premises with elegant storefronts, facing both the yard and the street.
The dilapidated yard was redesigned in form of a green boulevard – fashioned as an enclave for recreation. It features the very first municipal orchard in Łódź with two varieties of apple trees, a playground, a communal gym and a park area with places to relax, in the place of the historic garden. Unappealing blind walls in the neighbouring plots have been obscured by vine covered vertical structures.
