Cosmopolitan Twarda 2/4/ Warsaw, Poland/ 2013
Type: Mixed-Use, Residential
Size: 116,000 sq ft / 10,780 sq m
Height: 44 floors; 512 ft / 156 m
Status: Completed 2013
Previously Named: Twarda Tower
The 44-floor Cosmopolitan Tower integrates modern residential life into the vibrant Śródmieście Północne neighborhood of Warsaw. Our proposal centered on an urban responsibility to the surrounding context, with a primary goal of fostering an active community. As the tower approaches the ground, the base fragments and pulls apart, revealing a sheltered public space in the heart of the site. This covered plaza provides an active space for cafés and the Jewish Cultural Center. The notched recess of the tower above allows the base to read as a distinctively separate form, establishing a continuity of scale with the adjacent constructions along Twarda Street. A private roof terrace occupies this visual division between the tower and its base, establishing multiple scales of engagement with the exterior.
The tower is elongated on the north-south axis to maximize views of the Royal Route, Saxon Garden, and Old Town, as well as of the dynamic urban evolution occurring to the west. The plan allows for a variety of one, two, and three-bedroom units ranging from 60 to 160 square meters. Penthouse units, which have two levels and a private roof terrace, range from 230 to 250 square meters. Maximum unit flexibility is achieved through the implementation of steel cross-bracing as opposed to concrete shear walls.
The full-height glass cladding provides extensive views of the city. Different glass treatments — clear, tinted, or fritted with a warm bronze color — and horizontal sliding interior shades ensure various degrees of transparency and privacy.
The facade is a composition of glass, metal, and screens. Bay windows and the heroic cantilever are rendered with black-colored spandrels, while bronze-colored metal reinforces the basic volume of the building. Tubular metal screens over the operable windows emphasize the tower’s verticality. A series of horizontal blades define the top where the color of the spandrels changes to silver where special penthouse units are located.
A screen of bronze-colored frit provides intimacy to the occupied residential spaces on the ground floor.
The simple lobby finishes are enhanced by the use of book and end-matched marble behind the reception desk.
A covered passage becomes a lively urban space between the retail spaces and community center with outdoor dining and a connection to the adjacent residential spaces.
