A new face for an ugly street

Warsaw's Pasaż Wiecha has been fully opened to the public after a six-month renovation. The pedestrian street, behind the Galeria Centrum department store, has been redeveloped by DTC Real Estate, which owns the Wars, Sawa and Junior buildings.

The street and the buildings around it were constructed in the 1960s and are part of the city center's commercial area. Pasaż Wiecha was originally inspired by Rotterdam's Lijnbaan passage, which was the first traffic-free shopping space in Europe. The idea of revitalizing the street was first mooted three years ago and a contest was held by the Warsaw branch of the Polish Architects' Association. The winners were Mass s.c. and Bulanda and Mucha Architects.

"The renovation of Pasaż Wiecha has always been considered the first step to a complete revitalization of the area between ul. Marszałkowska, Krakowskie Przedmieście and Plac Trzech Krzyży," said Patric Decol, CEO of DTC Real Estate, the renovation's investor.

Decol added that, with the current development of bigger shopping malls, Poland and Warsaw in particular should develop its main city-center trade streets. Such a trend has been present in all major western cities.

The cost of the renovation, of 4,000 sqm of space, was over zł.6 million. DTC will also cover the street's maintenance costs, as well as electric power, security and cleaning.