The headquarters of the Polish Power Transmission Network Operator Co. Ltd. create a gateway to the Konstancin from the direction of Warsaw. Thanks to the raised entranceway and steel-glass dome of the main lobby the building has became a staple of the newly shaped landscape, as well as a symbol of the use of environmentally-friendly, new building technology. The main design premise was to fuse the requirements for access control (for security requirements), a comfortable work environment, and a pleasant green open space.
The two buildings, with a combined floor area of 23,000 m², create a campus with interior passageways, which create an easy, pedestrian access in between different floors and wings. Both buildings were joined together by an elliptical, glass-covered lobby, which houses the reception, meeting rooms, and conference room for 200 people. The building construction and its communication-installation network create a clear functional layout, which reflects the transformation of the company's own current restructuring.
The project heavily emphasized the use of landscape and nature within its design. For instance, a tree was placed in the elliptical hall, which symbolizes Konstancin's coat of arms. In the back of the building a five-hectare park was designed with ponds, islands and bridges. Thanks to the man-made embankment, the building appears to lie within a valley, which allows for it to separate itself from the neighboring structures.
In May 2008, this building received the 1st place prize from the Polish Association of Engineers and Construction Technicians in the "2007 Building of the Year" award, in the category "Commercial and Storage Building."
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I expect architecture to catch one's attention, serve as a topic of conversation, and to stand out from its neighbouring environemnt... It pleases me when in the process of looking for a specific address I stumble upon a specific, exciting physical form. This will certainly be the case with the see-through egg within the PSE egg and that is why immediately after I saw it I chose this location for one of the scenes in my new movies.
KRZYSZTOF ZANUSSI, film director/producer