Bronze Interior Space and Exhibition Design · 2024
City Rooftop Residential
- A' Design Award 2024 Bronze Winner in Interior Space and Exhibition Design
- Awarded April 15, 2024
- CLIENT: Roland Stanczyk
- Estimated Number of Design Views: 11,923
- Verification code 08DF91226C · Verify this award
About City Rooftop Residential
City Rooftop stylistically fits into the architectural style of modern residential building located in historical surrounding. Details of the designed furniture and doors correspond to Polish ornamentation from the 20s and 30s. but the are modern in the same time. New bespoke furniture has been juxtaposed with modern Italian sofas and chairs. The décor of the flat is complemented by paintings of the Polish artists from the first half of XX century.
Press Kit
- Unique Properties
- The intention of the architect was to design a luxurious apartment for an active married couple, who normally lives in the countryside 200 km away from Warsaw, but would like to enjoy the cultural life of the capitol. The designing process was a huge pleasure - it is not often the case that an architect has a chance to work for people he understands and truly likes.
He had to find ways to make the designed space correspond to the building combining new and old architecture. It is always difficult to blend modern and historical parts of design, but searching the history of the place and looking for fitted objects that would match to the rest, made the designing process both more challenging and more interesting. As a result, the interior design of the apartment is intentionally coherent with the architecture of the entire building, constructed with great attention to historical detail.
The architect has used design elements typical for interiors of Warsaw from the XIX and XX century, combining them with the new modern ones. The decor of the flat is complemented by works of Polish artists from the XX century: Leszek Nowosielski, Jerzy Mierzejewski and Henryk Musiałowicz. The classical sculpture was made by Tomasz Górnicki, contemporary Polish sculptor. - Dimensions & Packaging
- Apartment area is 120 sq. m.
Kitchen connected with living, two bathroom, three bedroom, holl - Tags
- Historical Distric, Historical Flat, Socialist Realist District, Bespoke Furniture, Modernization, Remodeling space, Oak floor, Marble floor, Furniture details
- Production Technology
- Organizing and supervising realization team.
Remodeling the space by changing dividing walls. Adding hidden air-conditioning.
Changing heating system and water connections.
Bespoke furniture and doors made of real wood. Some of them veneered and some lacquered.
Furniture details designing.Bespoke beds design.
Stone details designing. The Stones were cut by water jets.
Personalized furniture from Italy.
Supervising in art selection.
All the others: textiles, sound&TV, accessories... - Design Challenge
- The architect must have done in-depth research in order to make the space correspond historically to the facade and surroundings of the building Most difficult was combining modern and historical part of design. Searching the history and looking for related objects made the designing process more interesting.
- Project Duration
- Project started at January 2022. Finished at February 2023.
Located in the center of Warsaw, near to Vistula river.
Located in the modern residential building combined wit the old tenement house from interwar period. - Operation Flow
- It is not often the case that an architect has a chance to work for people he understands and truly likes. We all wanted to design a luxurious urban apartment for an active married couple.
- Research
- I am interested in Polish history. Especially architecture.
It was a great pleasure working with the flat located in a modern building of Warsaw near Vistula river district.
The residential building had been build with great attention to historical surroundings. Interior design of the apartment was made compatible with the architecture of the entire building, - Inspiration
- Polish ornamentation from interwar period.
Modern, residential buildnig with designed flat has buid in it interwar tenement house. That idea of mixing old and new architecture inspired me to create that interior. The design combine moderm elements with this typical for interiors of Warsaw from the 30s and 40s of 20 century.
The decor of the flat is complemented by art of the Polish artists from the 20 century. The classical sculpture was create by well known Polish sculpturer from 21 century.
Colors of City Rooftop Residential
Design Interview about City Rooftop Residential
The main principle was to create a luxury rooftop residence that blends contemporary living with panoramic urban experiences. Inspiration came from Warsaw’s cityscape, where rooftops offer unique perspectives of the skyline, sunlight, and historical urban layers. The concept integrates architecture, interior design, and art to transform the space into a multi-dimensional urban retreat.
The focus was on maximizing natural light, open spatial flow, and views of the city, while maintaining functional intimacy for private living. I aimed to achieve a sense of openness without losing warmth, balancing minimalism with luxurious textures, and harmonizing furniture, lighting, and artwork to create a coherent aesthetic.
I intend to document the project as a case study in urban rooftop design and explore applying similar principles to other residential rooftops. The project will serve as inspiration for clients and architects interested in vertical urban living with high design standards.
The concept and planning phase took about five months, followed by three months of detailing, 3D visualization, and custom furniture development. Each stage was carefully calibrated to respect proportions, materials, and lighting conditions.
The project was commissioned by a private client who wanted a rooftop space that combined functionality, aesthetics, and panoramic views. I also saw it as an opportunity to explore innovative ways to integrate art, light, and furniture into compact urban environments.
Custom furniture and millwork were produced in collaboration with Polish artisan workshops. Currently, the design exists as a unique private project. Future plans may involve producing limited-edition furniture pieces inspired by this project, but the residence itself remains private.
I am particularly drawn to urban residential rooftops because they present a rare opportunity to work with natural light, vistas, and vertical spatial dynamics. This type of project allows experimentation with light, proportion, and materiality, creating interiors that are both intimate and expansive.
Yes, inspirations included Peter Zumthor’s atmospheric spaces, Alvar Aalto’s material sensitivity, and mid-century modern furniture designers. Their work informed my approach to human experience, material layering, and proportion within constrained urban spaces.
The target client appreciates sophisticated urban living, cultural experiences, and high-quality craftsmanship. They seek a residence that is not just functional but reflective of lifestyle and personal taste, combining comfort with curated art and furniture.
This design integrates architectural geometry, light, custom furniture, and art into a seamless narrative, transforming a rooftop into a living space that feels expansive, cohesive, and luxurious. The attention to proportion, materiality, and urban dialogue sets it apart from typical rooftop renovations.
The name, City Rooftop Residential, reflects the project’s urban context and functional program. It emphasizes the residence as a unique, elevated private space that interacts directly with the cityscape.
I used AutoCAD and 3ds Max for spatial planning, visualization, and light simulation. Physical mock-ups helped refine furniture scale, ceiling heights, and circulation, ensuring a harmonious balance between digital precision and tactile experience.
The most unique aspect is the integration of panoramic urban views with spatial intimacy. Custom furniture, strategically placed lighting, and multi-level visual axes create a continuous dialogue between interior and exterior, making the rooftop feel like both a private home and an observatory of the city.
I collaborated with local carpenters, millworkers, and lighting specialists, who executed custom furniture, lighting installations, and built-in architectural elements. Technical expertise was essential to achieve precise alignment, structural safety, and aesthetic harmony.
Technology allowed for accurate light simulation, proportion testing, and 3D visualization. CAD and rendering software ensured the interplay of materials, furniture, and views was fully tested before execution, minimizing errors and preserving design intent.
Yes, research included solar path studies, wind load considerations, and structural analysis of the rooftop. I also conducted ergonomic studies and observed human movement patterns to ensure furniture, circulation, and space usage were intuitive and comfortable.
Challenges included roof load limitations, irregular spatial geometry, and integrating panoramic views without compromising privacy. Balancing scale, furniture placement, and lighting to harmonize with structural constraints required multiple iterations and close collaboration with engineers and craftsmen.
The project represents a unique urban intervention that blends art, architecture, and interior design. The A’ Design Award was the ideal platform to showcase this innovative approach internationally, highlighting the possibilities of rooftop residential living in dense cities.
I refined my skills in maximizing spatial experience in constrained urban sites, integrating natural light and urban views into interior planning, and blending custom furniture, lighting, and art into cohesive narratives. The project strengthened my approach to human-centered urban luxury interiors.
This project demonstrates that even compact urban rooftops can be transformed into luxurious, functional, and emotionally resonant living spaces. Every design choice — from ceiling geometry to furniture scale and lighting design — was intended to create a continuous dialogue between architecture, art, and city life, offering residents a living experience that is both private and elevated above the urban bustle.
Grand Interview about City Rooftop Residential
I treat the dialogue between old and new as the project’s primary voice: rather than pastiche, I pursued a restrained translation of Polish interwar ornament geometry, stylised foliate friezes and elegant cornice rhythms into contemporary proportions and materials. The trick was to extract the grammar of ornament (scale, rhythm, negative space) and recompose it as modern intervals: recessed panels become acoustic-lined niches, a decorative frieze becomes a thin metal inlay, and geometric motifs are suggested in brass insets rather than carved plaster. This keeps the emotional memory of Warsaw’s interiors while avoiding sentimental replication; the result is a living interior that reads as both familiar and new, respectful of context but calibrated for 21st-century use.
The apartment’s location framed by the city’s layered riverside and its mixture of nineteenth-century façades and newer geometry demanded a design that could hold both civic gravity and domestic intimacy. I studied local cornice heights, window rhythms and the muted palette of riverside masonry, then translated those cues into an interior scale that feels of-a-place: tall sightlines, generous window reveals and a palette that references river-stone, oxidised metals and old varnish. The apartment thus becomes a compact urban belvedere: it paraphrases the river’s muted light and the city’s stratified history while remaining a contemporary retreat for cultural evenings and quiet mornings.
Preserving the interior’s historical temperament required technical discretion. We concealed mechanical systems within bespoke joinery, used slim linear diffusers in vaulted profiles and built service corridors into panelled walls to avoid surface clutter. Early coordination with MEP specialists allowed us to route ductwork behind stone cladding and drop bespoke ceiling soffits only where proportionally necessary. Where active systems had to be visible, their finishes were carefully chosen — matte black grilles, hand-finished brass registers — so they read as crafted details rather than aftermarket additions. This is how I safeguarded authenticity while delivering modern comfort.
Designing the furniture and doors began with archival study: I examined Warsaw flats from the late 19th and early 20th centuries, old joinery patterns, surviving door mouldings and cabinetmakers’ drawings. Visits to workshops and conversations with master carpenters helped me reinterpret techniques (panel profilation, veneering direction, inlay scale) for contemporary joinery tolerances. The contemporary interpretation strips ornament to essential lines, uses modern engineered cores for stability, and applies traditional veneers, hand-rubbed finishes and discrete metal details so each piece reads as new but genealogically correct. The process produced furniture that anchors every room in an intelligible lineage.
Art was never an afterthought; it is the apartment’s second skin. Working with the collectors we identified works by Leszek Nowosielski, Jerzy Mierzejewski and Henryk Musiałowicz and placed them so that light, sightlines and daily choreography amplify their narratives. A bold canvas anchors the lounge, a quieter study hosts figurative work that rewards close reading, and the classical bronze by Tomasz Górnicki punctuates a transitional corridor. The artworks were chosen and sited to create an internal museum of personal taste - each piece converses with the architecture, modulating scale and mood and legitimising the apartment as a cultural pied-à-terre.
Designing for weekend inhabitation shifts priorities: spatial generosity in living and dining, flexible sleeping arrangements, and storerooms that conceal infrequently used belongings. We focused on conviviality - a kitchen and dining zone that can host ten, layered lighting for evening gatherings, and acoustic treatments so guests can talk over music or theatre recordings. At the same time, the bathroom and bedroom suites were conceived as restorative refuges with tactile materials and subtle climate control. The result is a compact program that supports both host-led evenings and solitary mornings immersed in the city’s cultural rhythm.
On a 120 m² footprint every centimetre matters. The plan strategy was to define three spatial archetypes: a public living cluster, a semi-private study/dining zone and a quiet sleeping suite. We used continuous sightlines to make spaces feel larger, carved niches to accommodate storage and custom joinery to avoid furniture clutter. Circulation is efficient: a single ‘spine’ corridor distributes daylight while shifting floor materials and ceiling heights signal programmatic changes. These measured moves allow each area to keep its identity while the whole reads as a single composed interior.
Pairing water-jet precision with artisanal craft created a deliberate contrast: water-jet-cut stone allowed us to realise exquisitely thin inlays, precise thresholds and intricate bathroom basins without compromising structural solidity; meanwhile traditional carpentry brought layered warmth and hand-finished detail. The technological precision informs the plan and interface logic, while the handwork softens and humanises surfaces. Together they create a dialogue where technique is visible but not dominant - a choreography between machine accuracy and the imperfect poetry of craft.
The palette is intentionally restrained: warm, reconstituted stone and soft plaster base layers, oak and ebonised joinery, and calibrated accents of burnished brass and deep oxblood leather. These materials reference the patina of older Warsaw interiors: mellowed stone and dark wood while meeting modern durability and maintenance needs. Finishes are matte to mute reflections and create a sense of age; accents are used sparingly to heighten moments of ceremony — a dining table, so the apartment feels like an edited, lived-in collection rather than a staged exhibit.
Recognition (including the A’ Design Award) validates an approach that privileges cultural continuity over novelty for novelty’s sake. I hope this project shows colleagues and clients that preserving historical cues is compatible with contemporary luxury: with disciplined design, respectful material choices and technical precision we can make interiors that honour place and time while offering modern comfort. The award is an encouragement to pursue future projects where memory and craft meet new technologies, and to advocate for interiors that are both rooted and forward-looking.