The school building is located in the heart of historic Kraków, the former capital of Poland, in Zwierzyniec district, at 39, Senatorska street, at a place of special cultural, historical and urban planning importance. It is adjacent to St. Augustine and St. John the Baptist's baroque church, as well as the monastery of Norbertine Sisters, dating back to the second half of the twelfth century. A little further, on the eastern end of St. Bronisława's Hill massif, the romanesque church of the Holy Saviour is located, and opposite it there is the baroque St. Margaret and St. Judith's chapel, made of timbered wood, dated 1690. The intention of the authors of this building, Rafał Barycz, Ph.D. in Architecture, and Paweł Saramowicz, Ph.D. in Architecture, with the team of Barycz & Saramowicz Design Office, was that the architecture created in such an obliging neighborhood must be characterized by masterful moderation and appropriate setting in the context.
Multistage implementation of the building is an architectural “never-ending story”. The building was designed in 2008 for the Charter School Complex No. 6 of the Civic Education Association in Kraków, one of the most reputable non-public educational institutions of the city. The school authorities changed in 2010. The owner of the Private Primary School and Middle School became the investor of the building – ASCO S.A., public limited company. The exceptional quality of tuition and education, great location and the most modern educational building in Kraków result in the school enrollment being made years in advance, immediately after childbirth. To meet the needs, the new owner decided to build the extension and create a double offer for children in each age group; opening a high school is also a perspective. Thus, in 2012, the next stage of the investment, consisting of its upward extension, was implemented based on Barycz and Saramowicz's design.
In the coming years, a new wing of the building, again designed by Barycz and Saramowicz, will be built. New classrooms will be created, including multimedia labs, which will allow to open another branch of the school and, in consequence, a high school. The rule that in one class no more than 18 children should be taught at a time, is strictly respected here. The new wing will house a full-size swimming pool with a basin made of stainless steel in the Berndorf technology, complete locker rooms, shower and toilet facilities, as well as a small spa. This part of the building will also house a large school auditorium.
The school owes its huge success to a consistently high level of teaching, humanist approach to the issues of education, but also, to a large degree, to the architecture and functionality of its building, which is one of the most modern educational buildings in contemporary Poland.
Designed in Barycz & Saramowicz's Design Office, the building quickly became one of the icons of modern Kraków, gaining a wide reputation. The Architectural Portal “Bryla.pl” set it among such outstanding architectural works as the colored high school in Gentofte designed by Soren Robert Lund, or the building of Orestad College in Copenhagen, designed by 3XN Architects. “Newsweek” on the other hand, in the article titled “A nice school” wrote that this building “is associated with the best achievements of the Polish modernism”. The new building of the Charter School Complex was also a finalist of the plebiscite for the Kraków most beautiful investment of the passing two decades.
The linear plan and physiognomy of the building was determined by its location on the banks of the river Rudawa, which flows into the Vistula river nearby. The spatial assumption of the school building creates a new development quarter, between Senatorska and Salwatorska streets. Its architecture is explained by the director of the Barycz & Saramowicz Design Office, Rafał Barycz, Ph.D. - It will be the longest facade of modern Kraków. Located at the junction of the river Rudawa, Salwator and Zwierzyniec districts, with their pre-war modernist tradition, the building is to constitute a synthesis of the natural and cultural landscapes. Hence, the idea to create a green facade is appropriate. It is shaped by modern pilaster strips of steel tendons, acting as screens, which Parthenocissus quinquefolia, known as five-leaved ivy, climbs. This is the architecture which is alive.
The horizontal architecture of the building refers to the line of the river. In addition, it gains a vertical division through the use of a variety of finishing materials. Paweł Saramowicz, Ph.D., states that this is a kind of “The sandwich architecture”. Special rustication of hand-made silicate bricks received a counterpoint in the form of an elegant cladding of Prodema high-processed wood in the color mocha. This innovative material produced in Spain is known from numerous implementations of progressive architecture. The rear elevation of the building, with the increased articulation of window openings, is a contemporary reinterpretation of the archetype of fortifications surrounding the nearby Norbertine monastery.
With the construction of the school building, Barycz and Saramowicz prove that commercial investments not only can bring profits, but at the same time serve the common good and the higher purpose.
Rafał Barycz, Ph.D. in Architecture
Paweł Saramowicz, Ph.D. in Architecture
