Warsaw Vodka Factory "Koneser"

Warsaw Vodka Factory "Koneser"
Warszawska Wytwórnia Wódek "Koneser"
The main gate from the Ząbkowska street
Former names	Warsaw Rectification National Spirit Monopoly – Spirit Rectification and Vodka Production Warsaw Spirits Industry "Polmos"
General information
Type	Factory complex
Architectural style	Neo-Gothic
Address	Ząbkowska 27/31
Town or city	Warsaw
Country	Poland
Coordinates	52°15′16″N 21°02′38″E / 52.254444°N 21.043889°E / 52.254444; 21.043889
Construction started	1895
Completed	1897
Renovation cost	PLN 460m (projected)
Design and construction
Architect(s)	L. Iwanowski K. Loeweg
Renovating team
Architect(s)	Juvenes Projekt Sp. z o.o. ARE Sp. z o.o Bulanda & Mucha Architects
Renovating firm	BBI Development NFI S.A.

Warsaw Vodka Factory "Koneser" (Polish: Warszawska Wytwórnia Wódek "Koneser") is a factory complex of

The oldest buildings of the Koneser

In 1919 the National Spirit Monopoly took control over the Koneser factory complex. It was not until 1936 that the Warsaw Rectification was formally purchased from the private owner thus making it a government-owned corporation. On the premises of the factory complex used to include storehouses, boiler houses, workshops as well as residential buildings and a school. The land for construction of the factory complex was purchased from Emil Bruhl, whose family had acquired the land from the descendants of Szmul Zbytkower. The Koneser factory was one of the most technologically advanced production plants and of the first electrified factories in Warsaw. It was equipped with a range of ancillary equipment such as boilers, alcohol and water steam engines, vodka bottling machines, hydraulic and manually controlled elevators as well as internal system of iron carts. The plant even had its own siding, i.e. a short railway line giving access to the main line of the Wileński Railway Station. The fact that the owner of Warsaw Rectification committed himself to distillation of a million buckets of spirit a year, only points out to the advancement of the factory.^[5]

1919–1945

The

Post-war period

The production was not resumed until 1947. It was only then that the plans of revitalization were introduced. The plans assumed restoration of the infrastructure destroyed during the

With the acquisition of the land by the BBI Development the idea of how to zone the area of the former factory changed drastically.^[8] The idea of the Praga Koneser Center was born.^[9] The project includes revitalization and adaptation of post-industrial buildings and creation of new buildings harmoniously integrated into the revitalized area of the former factory. The plans also include arrangement of loft apartments and construction of residential, office and commercial facilities. The use of some of the old factory buildings for cultural purposes, is also being considered.^[10]

References