Currently little more than a squat and ugly building, the boatswain’s office at Warsaw’s Czerniakowski Port is to be spectacularly reinvented after City Hall announced the winner of an architectural competition to find a new design. Authored by GAB Piotr Grabowski Architekt, construction of the winning project should begin next year and will take an estimated three to five years.

Magdalena Młochowska, the director of Zielona Warszawa, said: “For years we’ve observed a growing public interest in the use of Warsaw’s water for recreational purposes and we were pleased that this competition attracted such interest.”

“We hope to create a new place for water sports enthusiasts so as to make such pursuits as accessible to everyone as possible.”

Justifying their decision, the jury said: “the award was made largely because of the clear, spatial layout of the building, which is low and covered with a green roof… ”

“Such a concept enables both the preservation of the existing values and open landscape of the river’s valley in this area whilst introducing architectural values and dimensions that are appropriate for the natural landscape and that emphasize the special role the port plays along the riverfront boulevards.”