2019-12-09

MENNICA LEGACY TOWER CLAD IN ALUPROF FAÇADES

Construction of one of the most prestigious developments in Poland, the Mennica Legacy Tower in Warsaw, has reached the final stretch. The building, which is one hundred and forty metres tall, was topped out earlier this year and intensive finishing work is now in progress. The primary developers are Golub GetHouse and the Mint of Poland (Mennica Polska), the design is the work of Chicago-based Goettsch Partners (GP) and the general contractor is WARBUD SA. GP’s Polish partner, Epstein, is the Architect of Record. ALUPROF S.A., Poland’s number one manufacturer of aluminium systems and one of the leaders of the European sector, developed the individual solutions used for the building’s façades and windows.

The Mennica Legacy Tower is located at the intersection of ul. Prosta and ul. Żelazna in Warsaw’s Wola district. The work began in late 2016 and the ceremonial laying of the cornerstone took place in March 2017. The construction of the Tower and the neighbouring Western Building was carried out in parallel and the Tower was topped out in March this year.

Together, the Tower and the lower, Western Building, which is a ‘mere’ forty-three metres high and stands on the Żelazna Street side, provide more than sixty-five thousand square metres of rental space. The Warsaw property market is currently experiencing a rising demand for premium office space. Since this is exactly what the Mennica Legacy Tower offers, it fits right in with the trend. The most extensive rental agreement in the history of the Polish property market was signed there when mBank took on the tenancy of more than forty-five thousand square metres, the Tower’s entire usable office space. The bank will most probably be moving into its new premises at the beginning of next year.

The lower, forty-three-metre building offers almost fifteen thousand square metres of rental space, which has been taken by shared workspace company WeWork and will shortly be available to its users.

Construction at a dizzying speed! One floor every six days...

When the Tower was topped out in March 2019, each floor had been constructed in no more than six working days! At present, the glazed elevation is being fitted. The dedicated façade systems were designed by ALUPROF S.A. Based in the southern Polish city of Bielsko-Biała, the company is a leading European manufacturer of aluminium joinery.

The façade systems for the Tower were created in collaboration with the Eljako-Al company. The first of them, which is to say the ALUPROF MB-SE80 MLT segment-based, mullion and transom wall system, is a system designed for the construction of lightweight, suspended curtain walls. The structure consists of modules which are produced in their entirety in the factory. The height of the modules corresponds to the height of the storey they are intended for, while their width is established in line with the architectural design. The appropriate differentiation in the shapes of the aluminium profiles and the glazing technology used for the segments of the Tower’s façade made it possible to obtain a diverse range of visual effects on various elevations of the building as per the design. The system is complemented by the ALUPROF MB-86 SI MLP panelled window, which facilitates the flow of fresh air into the rooms and other interior spaces.

The second dedicated system, which was designed to meet the requirements for the construction of the façade segments on the lowest floors of the Mennica Legacy Tower complex, is the ALUPROF MB-SR60N MLT mullion and transom wall system. The solution was designed in order to produce lightweight, infill-type curtain walls. The load-bearing structure consists of the aluminium mullion and transom profiles and the insulated profiles enclosing the structure at the top and bottom. Both this solution and the MB-SE80 MLT were dictated by search for ways of accomplishing the designer’s intentions for the façade’s appearance and functionality.

Intensive finishing work

Right now, the construction site is humming with installation and finishing work, along with work on the pedestrian precinct on front of, and between, the buildings of the complex. Granite pavements are being laid, benches are being set up and a fountain is being built. Another striking phase occurred when the open urban space around the Tower was planted with several dozen trees. Amongst them are some carefully selected species which made their way to Warsaw from a forestry nursery in England. The tallest of these green ‘monuments’ have attained a height of as much as nine metres.

Meanwhile, in the lobby of the Tower, work has begun on fitting stunning sheets of glass measuring several metres. With the support of special, steel cables, they will form a transparent wall soaring twelve metres high. This solution is the first of its kind; since the Chicago-based designers have never used it before, there is nothing like it anywhere in the world.

Certified building

Another point that needs emphasising is the fact that the Mennica Legacy Tower complex has obtained the highest possible ratings for modern-day building multi-criteria certificates. It achieved a result of more than eighty-eight per cent under the BREEAM system, which means a classification of Outstanding; in other words, the principles of sustainable, ecological building were applied from the outset, throughout the planning stage and during construction and they are inherent to the final outcome. Another crucial certificate which the Tower has obtained is the LEED. Again, it achieved the highest possible classification, Platinum.

The completion of the finishing work and the opening of the Mennica Legacy Tower are planned for the end of 2019.


Watch the film