Inside BBGK Architecture Studio, or the Former Home of Warsaw’s Bank Zachodni
Step inside BBGK Architekci’s Warsaw studio at 6 Aleksandra Fredry Street - the former headquarters of Bank Zachodni, with over a century of history - and discover its interiors, architecture and ideas shaping the city today.
What does it feel like to walk through a building that has witnessed more than a century of Warsaw’s history? Let’s see, because today this place is also the headquarters of one of Warsaw’s architectural studios - BBGK Architekci.
The tenement house at 6 Aleksandra Fredry Street was originally commissioned by Hipolit Wawelberg in the late 19th century as the headquarters of Bank Zachodni, at the time one of the largest banks in Poland.
A building with many lives
The tenement house at 6 Aleksandra Fredry Street was originally commissioned by Hipolit Wawelberg in the late 19th century as the headquarters of Bank Zachodni, at the time one of the largest banks in Poland. Designed by Józef Pius Dziekoński, the building sits in one of Warsaw’s most prestigious surroundings, close to the Saxon Garden, Raffles Europejski and the Grand Theatre - Polish National Opera.
The office itself spans more than 600 m². What makes this even more fascinating is that the entire space was once a single apartment.
Today, it has protected historical status and still impresses with its elegance, original details, high ceilings and views. But above all, with its history.
BBGK occupies the top floor of the building. Apart from a tiny vintage lift, you can also reach it through one of my favourite details of the entire place - an impressive staircase where it feels as if time has simply stopped.
The staircase of the former Bank Zachodni building at 6 Aleksandra Fredry Street, Warsaw 2026. Photo: Warsawslook
The office itself spans more than 600 m². What makes this even more fascinating is that the entire space was once a single apartment. It feels almost unimaginable today, especially when you think about how dramatically our perception of living space - and the number of square metres we consider normal - has changed.
And the building has lived through quite a few different lives.
During the German occupation, it was taken over by the Germans and used by the Wehrmacht. Later, in 1989, it became connected to a completely different chapter of Polish history: the elections of June 4, 1989 - Poland’s first partially free elections after World War II. The headquarters of the Solidarity Citizens’ Committee was located here from April 23, 1989, and photographs of the candidates with Lech Wałęsa were taken on the staircase mentioned earlier.
Within the same walls, the story moved from banking, through occupation, to one of the most important political transformations in modern Polish history. And this is the history the architects working here encounter every single day.
Inside the studio
BBGK Architekci’s office at 6 Aleksandra Fredry Street, Warsaw 2026. Photo: Warsawslook
