Stary Port 17 Residential
Architecture, Interiors
Stary Port 17 is the most architecturally complex project in Rise.Design's portfolio: a four-year heritage-protected residential development on the last unrenovated building along Bydgoszcz's most prestigious waterfront promenade. The street follows the path of a historic road that served as the logistical heart of the city's river-based economy from the fifteenth century, a hub of the Vistula trade in grain and timber. In the 1970s and 1980s, the city transformed the former industrial quays into a recreational promenade and landscaped boulevard, creating an eclectic architectural fabric: the Neo-Gothic main post office from the 1880s, the Neo-Baroque Swiecicki building from around 1894, half-timbered granaries from the 1830s and 1840s, and the modernist Opera Nova rising across the Brda River.
The tenement at Stary Port 17, built between 1854 and 1866, had deteriorated to the point where the rear structure was beyond repair. Yet its street facade, composed of Fachwerk timber-frame construction with original plasterwork, an arched gateway, and Art Nouveau decorative ironwork, remained architecturally significant and required preservation under the Municipal Heritage Conservator.
The design treats the heritage facade as a two-dimensional plane to be restored in place, while constructing an entirely new cascading reinforced concrete structure behind it that steps back in terraced floors toward the river, maximising panoramic Brda views from each of the eleven luxury apartments. The project was branded as Regatta House, a name referencing the waterfront, the city's celebrated Wielka Wioslarska rowing regatta and Ster na Bydgoszcz water festival, and the developers' own passion as avid sailors. The Jarzemski family, founders of Urban Space, translated sailing values into material precision: high-quality timber reminiscent of boat decking, brushed metal fixtures, and a palette of whites, blues, and natural tones.
The 2,923 square metre project occupies an 891 square metre triangular plot with 82% site coverage, developed by Urban Space Sp. z o.o., a niche firm that focuses on smaller, premium investments rather than volume-based development. The undertaking required nearly four years of negotiation with previous owners and permit acquisition before Rise.Design's work could begin in 2021.
The massing strategy is documented through a seven-stage axonometric transformation sequence that traces every step from existing ruin to completed building: facade preservation with everything behind the front wall removed, new ground floor filling the entire plot footprint, then successive residential volumes stepping back to create the cascading profile.
The south elevation presents a historically-coded facade, while the north and east faces expose the contemporary cascading structure in clinker brick and standing seam metal. Each floor sets back from the street facade as it rises, creating the characteristic terraced silhouette.
The arched gateway preserved from the original tenement functions as the primary pedestrian entrance from the promenade into the residential courtyard. Its stone portal and cobblestone passage have been restored to their original condition.
The courtyard garden between the heritage front wing and the new cascading rear structure is designed with specimen planting, stone-bordered paths, and seating areas.
The common area interior pairs Ariostea porcelain stoneware with a walnut lamella ceiling. The lobby includes the Regatta House logo, walnut panel walls, a mailbox enclosure, and video intercom.
The cascading section is the project's defining spatial idea: five residential floors plus underground garage, each setback creating a private terrace for the apartment below. In the most generous case (unit M3 on the first floor), the 162.85 square metre terrace exceeds the apartment's own 146.58 square metre floor area.
The eleven apartments range from 63 to 160 square metres, with open-plan living rooms, generous ceiling heights (3.95 metres at ground floor, 3.3 metres on upper floors), and a material palette of walnut, stone, and white plaster. Smart home integration and underfloor heating run through all units.
The waterfront site, with a 2.4 metre fill layer and groundwater barely a metre below grade, demanded micropile foundations. The preserved front wall was reinforced with concrete cores at widened openings, jet grouting beneath the footings, and an arched lintel suspended from steel beams above the gateway.
The underground garage holds eleven parking spaces concealed entirely beneath the courtyard garden, with a heated ramp eliminating any above-ground vehicle presence on the promenade.
The conservation strategy used Art Nouveau wrought iron balustrades catalogued during the heritage inventory as templates for the new common area metalwork. Crack repair via the Helifix method, reconstruction of missing plaster profiles, and colour restoration based on archival research brought the facade back to its pre-war condition.
The building the design team inherited was the last unrenovated structure on the promenade: a 170-year-old tenement whose rear volumes had collapsed beyond repair.
These wrought iron panels were catalogued during the heritage inventory. Their Art Nouveau geometric patterns informed the metalwork vocabulary of the new building's common areas.
