The National Library's Palace of the Commonwealth has received the Property Design 2025 award in the category of Design - Interiors: Public Buildings.
The Property Design Awards are presented annually during the 4 Design Days industry event in Katowice. Architects and designers take part in it. The competition awards buildings and interiors with the best architecture and design. The winners are selected based on voting by the jury and readers of the propertydesign.pl and www.propertynews.pl portals. On January 23, 2025, projects commissioned by the end of 2024 and their creators were awarded.
The palace renovation project, designed by Konior Studio, was considered unique and innovative. The jury appreciated the transformation that made the Palace of the Commonwealthan open, friendly public building, serving as a treasury of the national library.
The renovation included the renovation of all elements of the palace's architecture, including floors, walls and richly decorated ceilings.
The main architect of the project, Tomasz Konior, emphasized that the new interiors of the Palace are intended to make it friendly and accessible to all social groups.
"The Palace of the Commonwealth is fortunate to have architects, first Tylman z Gameren, now Tomasz Konior and other wonderful architects working with us on the modernization of the 17th-century palace full of surprises" - said Tomasz Makowski, Director of the National Library, during the ceremony.
He added that in 6 months since the opening, the palace was visited 170,000 times. Currently, the palace is one of the locations where events related to the Polish presidency of the Council of the European Union are held.
The Property Design Awards is one of the most important events in the real estate, architecture, interior design and design market in Poland. This competition awards the best commercial and public projects in Poland.
The palace was modernized and its interiors were arranged thanks to support from the EEA and Norway Grants. The grant agreement was signed in 2021, and the project culminated in a ceremonial opening on May 21, 2024. The value of the project is almost PLN 25.5 million, and the funding from the EEA and Norway Grants amounted to PLN 15.11 million.
A few years earlier, in 2014, the National Library also benefited from the EEA and Norway Grants. The revitalization and conservation of the Krasiński 1 Palace lasted until 2017. At that time, all the facades of the palace were renovated, the sculptures crowning the tympanum from the side of Krasiński Square were restored, as well 2 as the bas-reliefs and stucco on all the facades. All the windows and flashings and the external stairs from the west, south and north sides were replaced. The glazing of the arcades from the garden side was made. A new, energy-saving building illumination system was installed. Architectural barriers were also removed to adapt the building to the needs of people with disabilities. These works received support from the EEA and Norway Grants in the amount of PLN 13.7 million.
Want to know more?
We have already written an article about this project. Read the article "Polish cultural treasures available to all: National Library opens Krasinski Palace".