#117 - Warsaw Is Changing — But Is It Resilient?

Warsaw is changing fast — but are those changes truly progressive?

Atrium International was demolished in 2023, before I moved back to Warsaw. I used to work in this office in the 90s — it was then newly built, one of the most modern and fashionable office buildings in the city. I will miss this building. Over those thirty years, it became part of the city’s fabric, history, and culture. Buildings are not just tools — over time, they become part of social life, memory, and identity. So why does it come so easily to take them out?

A demolition decision has recently been issued for the iconic Intraco, while at the same time another, less well-known but still characteristic building — Ilmet — is already being taken down.

There is lots of construction work across Warsaw. It feels very progressive, but Ilmet and Atrium were only thirty years old. Intraco, built in the seventies, suddenly sounds like a dinosaur in this development model. Reading this news, I come back to a quote from Lacaton & Vassal [1]:

Retaining the existing structure can substantially reduce embodied carbon emissions. These are CO₂ emissions associated with the production of materials (cement, steel, glass), transport, construction and installation, and demolition of the existing building.

The largest emissions usually come from concrete (cement production is highly carbon-intensive), steel, and aluminium. Demolition means lots of waste — most materials used in the original construction are discarded, and new materials are used to build a theoretically more sustainable replacement. However the material toll is simply too high. Even the most advanced and efficient solutions cannot offset the cost of demolition. Material use should be the first question asked when making decisions about whether to demolish or renovate.

This question was also asked by the owners of Warta Tower. Cornerstone Investment Management decided to renovate instead of demolish. The renovated building, now called V-Tower, may become a symbol of progressive thinking — the ability of the Polish development industry to take on challenges, think outside the box, and learn from the avant-garde of resilient thinking like Lacaton & Vassal.

After modernisation, V-Tower’s operational emissions will decrease by 40%, reaching a level significantly below the average for the 30 largest existing office buildings in Poland. Primary energy consumption will fall by 31% compared with the baseline, exceeding the threshold set by the EU Taxonomy.

The redevelopment will generate only 4,000 tonnes of additional carbon footprint, compared with an estimated 27,000 tonnes in the case of demolition and construction of a new building — approximately 85% lower footprint [2]. These are striking numbers, illustrating the illusion of progress driven by easy, short-term decisions.

Real transformation requires broader reflection and the ability of decision-makers to consider long-term impacts on the environment and society. There might be situations where demolition is indeed the best option, but these should be exceptions rather than the standard way of working in an industry responsible for forty percent of global carbon emissions.

Circular economy principles are needed in this sector more than anywhere else. V-Tower is therefore a much-needed example that modern architecture can be both resilient and circular.

I publish one short reflection like this each week. If you would like to receive them by email, you can sign up to the newsletter here

References and Notes

1. The quote comes from Springer, F. (2024). Szara godzina. Czas na nową architekturę [Grey hour: Time for a new architecture]. Karakter.

2. Numbers based on: https://www.architekturaibiznes.pl/v-tower-modernizacja,40255.html