Snakes on a Plan: Medusagroup

Founded by Łukasz Zagała and Przemo Łukasik in 1997, Medusagroup is regarded as one of Poland’s most successful architecture firms. Originally based in Bytom, Silesia, Medusagroup now operates offices in Warsaw and in London.

The studio’s international break came in 2004, when two of their projects both earned a nomination for the Mies van der Rohe Award. Of these, their House in Żernica, a simple, long rectangle clad in wood, with two small patios, features a sober interior that combines wood, concrete and white plaster, with areas of glazing and translucent U-sections, whilst the Bolko Loft lifted a home up on stilts using an existing mining tower.

Now, as then, bold formal language and a certain reverence for materials remain key to the the firm’s buildings, both large and small. The tiny roadside shrine in Bronowice, which combines a table-like structure of hollow, weathered steel bars with a laminated glass cross in the middle, is a prime example of this.

The studio now tackles much larger projects, such as Akademeia High School in Warsaw. The wooden screen exterior may seem solemn at first, but the courtyard contains playfully stepped terraces that lead onto the building’s green roof. The interior, designed in collaboration with Studio Rygalik, is just as varied, incorporating bright social spaces with more intimate corridors and nooks.

As in the rest of Europe, preservation and adaptive reuse are key issues for contemporary architects, and Medusagroup’s work in this field shows real sensitivity to existing buildings. In Warsaw’s historic Koszyki Market Hall, the architects have respectfully left much of the pre-war ironwork intact, adding unobtrusive glass commercial units and polished concrete floors to give it a youthful vibe.

A more radical approach was taken when restoring an old officers’ mess into offices for Kanlux, one of Poland’s most innovative lighting manufacturers. Wrapped in a skin of sleek perforated metal, Medusagroup’s architects have chosen to reveal the roughness of the original concrete columns internally, whilst updating other interior surfaces. The project elevates the existing building into a stylish suburban office complex with a highly original take on materials.

© Architonic