In early December, the owners of Arkady Wrocławskie received permission from officials at the architecture department to demolish the empty and closed building. Almost all of them had moved out of it the previous spring.
This is what Arkady looked like on 30th April 2024 – the day when the last shops except one were closed.
Arkady Wrocławskie is the subject of a preliminary sale agreement between Develia (the previous owner) and Vastint Poland. The transaction is expected to be concluded in the summer of 2025. ‘Our investment plans include demolishing the existing complex and replacing it with a modern mixed-use development,’ reported Vastint Poland's managing director Roger Andersson on the occasion of signing the first agreement, where the amount of EUR 43 million is specified.
Develia is at the stage of approving a replacement traffic management project at the municipal offices for the planned demolition period. The developer says that demolishing the building should start at the end of January.
Post-modern building – in Wroclaw since 2007
Arkady Wrocławskie is a shopping and office centre opened in April 2007. At the time, the complex had 130 shops and service outlets, offices totalling 9,000 square metres, a multicinema and a car park with 1,100 spaces on a few levels.
The building was designed by brothers Artur and Paweł Szczepaniak. It consists of three parts:
- a high-rise building with an undulating façade line (13 storeys),
- a cylinder,
- a cuboid between them.
The skyscraper had offices, and the other blocks had shops, a cinema and a car park.
The double façade of the highest part was designed to protect the building from excessive sunlight and noise coming from the street.
Rafał Eysymontt in the Lexicon of Wroclaw Architecture: ‘In order to create an interesting chiaroscuro effect, the façades of the complex are covered with angled sheets of dark glass. The block of the skyscraper and the lower cylinder has been designed as a symbolic gateway to the city.’
The highlight of the interior was Profile of Time – a sculpture by Salvador Dali, later moved under the Sky Tower building. A huge aquarium also operated here for some time.
In 2007, Arkady Wrocławskie received third prize in the Public Utility Building category of the Beautiful Wroclaw competition.