Ghelamco launches Foksal townhouse sales
ResidentialThe historic townhouses at ul. Foksal 13 and 15 are currently under renovation, with the plan being to turn them into luxury downtown residences. In total, the project will provide 55 apartments of between 47 sqm and 260 sqm. The work has been underway since January 2016 and future tenants should be able to move in mid-2019. “Foksal 13/15 is the very definition of elegance, beauty and luxury with a historical touch. We are restoring the former splendour of two of Warsaw’s exceptionally precious historic buildings, which, as in the past, will contain apartments with palace-like interiors,” explains Jeroen van der Toolen, the CEE managing director of Ghelamco.
According to Ghelamco, the project’s character lies in the authentic 19th century elements that have survived in the interiors of the two buildings. The stairwells are decorated with sculpted lintels, white marble floors, hand-forged balustrades and frescos with neo-baroque motifs and cupids. The interiors of the apartments feature elaborately decorated ceilings and wooden floors with a variety of patterns fashionable at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.
The tenement houses are to have two linked internal courtyards. One of these, at Foksal 15, will have a glass roof that will function as a comfortable patio with a reception desk and a meeting zone. Foksal 13 will have a reconstructed panoramic lift, which was installed during the modernistic redevelopment of the tenement house in the 1930s for chocolate tycoon Jan Wedel. Dutch architect Eric Kuster of the Metropolitan Luxury studio is responsible for the interior design work.
Foksal 13/15 will offer a SPA zone with a sauna and jacuzzi, fitness room, and spacious terraces with a cocktail zone on the top floors, overlooking the vibrant center of Warsaw. The project will feautre guest rooms, intended for exclusive use of the residents, who will be able to host their guests in comfortable conditions. The buildings will also be equipped with an underground parking lot for 64 cars in total. Concierge services are to be provided by Quintessentially, a global leader in this segment.
Foksal is where in 1746 an elite city park was set up, modeled on London’s Vauxhall. Warsaw residents called it “Foxhall”, which the Polish name of the street derives from. The park hosted concerts, balls and performances, attended in great number by the nobility, including king Stanisław August Poniatowski and his court. In the 19th century, along the former garden avenue, palaces of the aristocracy and the bourgeois started to emerge, which made Foksal one of the most beautifully developed streets and prestigious addresses in Warsaw.
In 1895 and 1898, at numbers 13 and 15 two eclectic tenement houses were built, designed by Warsaw architect Arthur Otton Spitzbarth, who was also their investor. They became home to many wealthy and influential people, including factory owners, upper-class townsmen, and politicians. In the 30s of the 20th century the tenement at Foksal 13 became property of Jan Wedel, the famous Polish entrepreneur and “King of Chocolate”, who commissioned its redevelopment in the modernistic style
The project of restoring the rich and eclectic details and revitalizing both tenement houses was designed by architect Anna Rostowska, an expert on historical architecture from Proart studio, in association with the renowned architectural studio SUD Architectes. The investment is also supervised by the Capital City Building Conservation Officer.
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