The Fair speaks OPENly

New office space for rent and a new place for meetings and cultural events – the Poznań International Fair will change beyond recognition in the year of its anniversary. Work on numerous investments is already underway.

Many residents consider the territory covered by the Poznań International Fair as a large and closed area located in the centre of Poznań. Nearly 23 hectares, virtually a city within a city, comes back to live during numerous Fairs and events organised there.

Mentions about commissioning a passage through the area of the Fair between Głogowska and Śniadeckich streets have been brought about for years. For many residents, this will be equal to shorter journey to the railway station or to the nearby Wilson Park. The passage will also give urban vibe, break through the monolithic structure of the area as

Visualisation: Śniadek + Śniadek Architekci. well as bestow it a local magnitude. It is because it will be a pedestrian crossing, among greenery, with places where you can sit, have a rest, drink coffee or have a meal. A new promenade, yet of a different nature than those that already exist in Poznań.

The investment will have its beginning underground. The first stage of works – and changes – will be the construction of a multi-storey car park beneath the Fair. Preparatory work has already started. The car park will be of three storeys and have spots for 650 cars. Its equipment will include cameras able to read vehicle plates numbers, which will speed up entry and exit as well as payment, and will remind the driver where they have left their car. Electric car owners will also have more and more spots where they can charge them.

The car park can be entered from Głogowska Street – opposite the railway station, in the place where the Adria restaurant used to be situated. Not only attendees of the events organised at the Fair can park their cars there, but also the residents, as far as possible.

The car park will also have its own impounding reservoir. The water accumulated in it will be used to irrigate nearby green areas, which will be spread across wider than these days.

Upon the underground car park has become operational, the cars parked at the Fair area will disappear. Hence, there will be new space for development and exploit. That is why the construction of the car park is correlated to the creation of the Culture Station, which will be located above it, and which will be made up of a square between pavilions 1, 2 and 12 and the pavilions alone, created (except for pavilion 1) for the needs of the General National Exhibition.

The space was designed by the Śniadek + Śniadek Architekci [Architects] studio. Designers came down with an idea to

create an aesthetic square with stone and wooden floors, greenery islands, where visitors can find places to have sit, or even lie down, and sunbathe. There will also be water surfaces in several places, which will provide you with pleasant cool during the summertime.

The square will become a place for rest and meetings – which will be additionally facilitated by 2 restaurants and coffee houses located inside the pavilion, whose terraces will be connected to it permanently. This place will also hold concerts, performances, shows, vernissages and other interesting events. It will become a new cultural showpiece of Poznań, bustling with life just like those city squares in Italy or Spain.

The Culture Station will be a space of wide availability to everyone, accessible from both Głogowska and Śniadeckich Streets. This results in another spatial revolution at the Fair: the opening of a pedestrian path connecting these two streets. Poznań residents as well as visitors will find it easier to get from the train station to the Wilson Park or, more broadly, to Łazarz. The road through the Fair will run along the Poznań Congress Center building and will inevitably be a trail filled with a garden and restaurants: running from the GARDENcity restaurant to catering outlets located in the Culture Station. It will run along the garden situated nearby the PCC and then through a greenery-filled square. It will be a pedestrian-only zone, a new promenade in the city.

Either the square, the Culture Station and the passage through the Fair area are to be put into use autumn this year.

No more talking about the Culture Station, yet we are still discussing the Fair: at the other end, at the intersection of Grunwaldzka and Święcickiego Streets, a new A+ class office building will soon be erected. A state-of-art building with a body characterised by variety of sizes and heights, developed by the CDF Architekci studio. Its usable area will exceed 3,200 sqm. The interiors will have an industrial character and be arranged at the discretion of the individual needs of tenants.

Visualisation: Śniadek + Śniadek Architekci.

The offices at the H6 will be perfectly suited for people and companies operating in the creative industry – and their location at the Fair area is to bring about a synergy effect, whereas companies – with the Grupa MTP at the forefront – are to inspire, drive and cooperate with each other.

The H6 office building is to be put into use at the turn of 2021 and 2022.

It will be a natural development of the catering activity conducted by Grupa MTP under the GARDENcity brand. The Sołacz Port will be a special place. The building, which has housed a restaurant of high popularity throughout Poznań for over a hundred years, comes from the East German Exhibition, which was held in 1911 on the very area of today’s Fair.

Why the Sołacz Port? On the one hand, a park being a haven from the hustle and bustle of the city and a restaurant where you can take a break from the rush and noise, have a coffee and eat something delicious. On the other – a reference to the marina with boats that have sailed on the Sołacz ponds for several dozen years and which are still remembered by many Poznań residents. The Sołacz Port will be arranged in the Hampton style – a combination of seaside vibe with urban luxury. It will be bright, comfortable, elegant, with the use of natural materials. When it comes to the gastronomic theme, European cuisine will be dominant there, with a special emphasis on the Mediterranean one. As the menu will be created by Tomasz Zdrenka – GARDENcity headchef, we can expect sophisticated combinations of flavours and textures, always served artistically.

It will be possible to enter the Sołacz Port this autumn, but as early as spring, you will be able to experience a foretaste of port life while drinking coffee and having ice cream in the cafe garden.

Despite the difficult situation, Grupa MTP has ambitious development plans. First of all, the International Poznań Fair will open to the inhabitants of Poznań, but also to new opportunities and interesting projects. Poznań is waiting impatiently for the successful completion of all investments and a new opening!

More information:

Za Bramką 1 Street, 61-842 Poznan Phone: +48 61 878 54 28 e-mail: inwestor@um.poznan.pl www.poznan.pl/invest