Wisła Boulevards

This international competition-winning project was designed in collaboration with RS AK landscape architects, with engineering provided by Arup. The project is for a 2km stretch of the West bank of the Wisła river in central Warsaw.
Till now the boulevard did not have much to offer the city - it was run down, depressing and underused. But since the completion of the scheme, everything has changed. The new pedestrian boulevard is 6 meters wide, with a modern bicycle path next to it. The completed design stretches from the Copernicus science museum through to the “ Old Town”. Apart from planting and seating areas, there is a "Living River Park” near the Copernicus Science Centre: a perfect place to relax among the greenery, an urban beach with changing facilities and deck chairs, a waterpark for children to enjoy in the summer, shaded pergolas with comfortable relaxation areas and a sculptural lookout point. And, not forgetting, the restaurant, information, bar and cafe pavilions.
The design of the pavilions shows that the Wisła Boulevards were designed not only to cope with the city user’s needs but also with the Wisła’s large range of changeable water heights – that was our client’s brief and formed one of the largest and most difficult design challenges that our studio ever faced. It was necessary to come up with a unique design approach, comprising enclosed structures in the form of pavilions that have to survive extreme conditions such as the danger of recurring floods.
The Boulevard pavilions were designed to enable them to float during floods. The pavilions are conceived as buoyant floating pontoons anchored to steel piles so that when the water level rises above the level of the boulevard the pavilions float.
The design also includes the renovation of all the existing tunnel pedestrian/cycle access, a new tunnel, new floating water tram stops, floating restaurants and marinas for canoes, kayaks, small pleasure boats, and larger commercial cruisers.
Eurobuild and SARP Festival of Architecture Award for "Best Public Space of 2016"
Stage 1 President of Warsaw’s Architectural award for the “Best Public Space of 2015”
Stage 2 President of Warsaw’s Architectural award for the “Best Public Space of 2017”
Warsaw citizen’s award 2017
President of Warsaw’s Architectural Grand Prix award

Artchitecture - architecture and masterplanning, RSAK Landscape architecture, Arup SMEP design