Heritage cuisine

Conversion and renovation projects are often conceived as mixed-use, place-making developments. This was certainly the idea behind such Warsaw projects as Elektrownia Powiśle (developed by Tristan Capital Partners and White Star Real Estate), Centrum Praskie Koneser (BBI Development), Browary Warszawskie (or Warsaw Breweries, by Echo Investment) and Norblin Factory (or Fabryka Norblin, by Capital Park). Vastint also has similar plans for Stara Rzeźnia in Poznań, as does Echo Investment for Fuzja in Łódź. The starting point for these developments are their historical features, but sometimes it’s the old buildings themselves, some of which have been literally rebuilt from ruins, that provide the real magic.

“The cuisine offered in such projects is attractive to everyone, not just local residents or office workers. This is what has turned such places as Browary Warszawskie and Fuzja into attractions for the entire city, including tourists. Catering, which links all such complexes, is the most important element in creating a unique project that operates around the clock,” insists Karolina Prędota-Krystek, the head of food and beverage at Echo Investment.

For Stary Browar in Poznań (opened 2007) and Manufaktura in Łódź (2006), the redevelopment concepts for these former industrial plants involved converting the space into modern shopping and leisure centres. Today, however, retail has lost its dominant role for such place-making projects, as developers have now shifted their focus onto offices and apartments, while the food & beverage side has also become much more important and autonomous. “In the beginning, our plan was to have more retail space in Norblin Factory – we were negotiating with both domestic and international chains, including brands that had not yet come to Poland,” reveals Kinga Nowakowska, a board member and the operations director of Capital Park. “But then the pandemic crippled the retail sector and largely shifted purchases onto the internet. Three years before we opened, we knew that we were not going to lease all the space with traditional retail,” she adds. She also stresses how the two sectors differ. “Large retail and fashion concepts don’t like such space – for them, old walls are problematic, whereas for the catering sector historical features actually add to their charm,” explains Kinga Nowakowska.

Food conservation

A whole range of modern installations have to be added to historic buildings, all under the watchful eye of a conservation officer. “Working on the structure of the original walls is always a challenge and is something that has great value,” notes Przemo Łukasik, an architect and the co-founder of the Medusa Group studio, which is responsible for the design of Fuzja in Łódź. “The requirements in terms of form and technology are simply different from those of newly constructed buildings and interiors. We have to reach a consensus with the monument conservation officer, which can be difficult but isn’t impossible,” he explains. He insists that restaurants or cafés located in a historic interior guarantee an experience that cannot be found in brand-new places, so they are worth the extra trouble. “It took us many years to come to an agreement with the conservation office over the Norblin Factory project. But once we had got it through, it was much easier for our tenants,” recalls Kinga Nowakowska. “Maybe because we had been talking with such honesty to the authorities for so many years and this had changed our perception of the project so much that they eventually trusted with the museum section, which would tell the story of the place so that it would become part of the centre’s identity,” she adds.

It’s good to be able to present the conservation department with a solid case. In the case of Norblin Factory, the key argument was the museum, while for Browary Warszawskie it was maintaining part of its original use. “The most important thing was the history of the place and we wanted to acknowledge this by opening a brewery here,” explains Karolina Prędota-Krystek. “When we were opening up our food concepts in Browary, we tried to make the most of its history. Everything was done in consultation with the conservation office, and alterations were made on an ongoing basis. Clearly, working on a listed building is more challenging, because every detail of the project, each technicality, has to be agreed on with the authorities. But we already have a tried and tested way of working,” she assures us.

Gritty realism vs. modernity

Food concepts often flourish in stylish, historic locations, but not necessarily in those that have been renovated. “In Poland, refurbishment doesn’t always support businesses, nor does it always improve them,” admits Krzysztof Cybruch, the CEO of Food Hall Poland. “Customers often want understated places they feel good to be in. It’s sometimes the case that a concept that previously worked in inferior space loses popularity once the premises have been renovated. Of course, it’s also very difficult to operate in a rundown hall, with heating problems, pigeons, leaks and lacking proper ventilation and security systems,” he admits.

Food Hall Poland acts as the operator of the catering section of the Montownia revitalisation project in Gdańsk. Krzysztof Cybruch was also responsible in 2007 for the commercialisation of Hala Gwardii in Warsaw, which is awaiting the final selection of a private partner for its redevelopment. “The restaurateurs in the building want to grow, but this is not always possible when the future of the building is in limbo,” he acknowledges. “A decade or two ago, this might have worked, but now we are in a different era, which began in 2016 with the modernisation of Hala Koszyki next door to Hala Gwardii. In today’s economic situation, the outlay for a temporary, short-term project is never going to pay off, while from the restaurateurs’ point of view, renovations offer long-term prospects for their operations,” he points out, while drawing attention to yet another issue: “Many of these beautiful, renovated, award-winning places are undergoing unchecked and irreversible gentrification. We are being dictated to by what is on the menu and, above all, by the prices. The pricing often creates a specific group of customers,” warns Krzysztof Cybruch.

Independently with an operator

Echo Investment, through its internal food and beverage team, is solely responsible for the commercialisation of the historic buildings of Fuzja in Łódź, and also independently supports the tenants of the catering section in Browary Warszawskie in Warsaw. But the food hall management has been handed over to operators by Euro-Styl for Montownia and Capital Park (to SFF. a company run by Michał Motz) for Norblin Factory. “Food Town joined the project as the F&B operator at a very early stage. The restaurants have many technical requirements. There’s nothing haphazard about doing this, as historic buildings represent a particularly huge challenge,” explains Kinga Nowakowska. “We wanted someone with experience, with the ability to select concepts, and with knowledge of the market. Our BioBazar and Food Town zones were launched in 2021, at the height of the pandemic, but since then we have only changed maybe two or three concepts,” she explains.

Krzysztof Cybruch is convinced that by working from the outset with an experienced partner you can plan and operate better and more cheaply. This can also impact subsequent rent levels. He points out that developers don’t always have the time and resources to become so deeply involved with the catering business – and this can be particularly important when it comes to food halls. “Designers often treat food halls as if they were large restaurants, but with a wide range of concepts their needs can rise exponentially. It’s not good to be looking for a food hall operator once the building has been completed and the opening date is approaching, because then it could turn out that once again you will have to spend a lot of money on redesigning it for permits to change the concept to mixed-use,” he cautions.

Renovations take years of planning and implementation. In this time the market situation could easily change, while new trends and requirements can also emerge. The development of Browary Warszawskie began in 2016 and the food hall opened in 2021. During this time the world was brought to a halt by the pandemic. “The biggest unknown was the commercial section. In the beginning, the service units were not assigned any specific purpose and this included the catering,” recalls Karolina Prędota-Krystek, but she also goes on to say that despite its similarities to Fuzja, this is a completely different project: “In Łódź we have 22 buildings, 15 of which are old. The market in the city is also very different and as a result our approach to Fuzja differed. For example, the present concept does not completely include a food hall, although that could change,” she says. The first food concepts in Fuzja’s historic buildings are scheduled to open at the end of August. “We still have to develop the former power plant in the complex. We want the inside to be open to the public. We are still doing research into what the food section should be like. We are talking and brainstorming. It’s good to manage such projects in their entirety and when you commercialise them to take care to ensure their diversity and consistency. Even when the project is set to be sold, it has to have contracts that have been well thought through,” argues Karolina Prędota-Krystek.

A night in vs. a night out

Food and catering can breathe life into any mixed-use project – but sometimes they can be too lively. A successful food concept brings with it high-spirited clientele whose dining is often accompanied by loud music. “When a project has a residential section, it’s very important to locate the noisier concepts in the office buildings and ensure that they are separate from where people live,” explains Karolina Prędota-Krystek. “At Browary Warszawskie, the cellars are the noisiest place, but at the design stage they were located under the office space. Now the noise doesn’t disturb the residents, because they are simply not in the same place. Large restaurants that have live music can only be found within the office development and, under the contracts they have signed, after 10 pm the music has to be restricted to the insides of the buildings,” she stresses.

Norblin Factory has no such restrictions, having no residents to take into account. “It’s harder to have live music every day when you have residents in a project who are looking for peace and quiet. That’s why music can be played a lot longer with us, until late at night,” says Kinga Nowakowska.

Putting the renovation puzzle together

“As architects, we analyse usage and adjust it to specific surfaces and spaces,” explains Przemo Łukasik, who also points out that combining different uses in a renovated building requires an interdisciplinary team to identify the best ways of doing this and what is technically possible, as well as estimating the costs and trying out different layouts. And there are many such approaches that can be taken. Many historic building conversions will feature a food hall, while others won’t have such areas, possibly due to architectural factors, but also because of the number and size of the buildings. “The popularity of food halls in Poland is partly being driven by the emergence of such ideas as the shared economy, a point of view encouraged by such factors as the pandemic,” points out Krzysztof Cybruch. “You can be your own ship, or you can have a cabin in that ship. Common space allows us to cut certain costs and optimise certain tasks,” he argues, while adding that a food hall is just one possible option for a catering section: “For some, they provide the opportunity to secure a stable income stream and expand their chains, but for others these are places where they would never open a restaurant, because they are looking to develop and build an independent brand,” he explains.

However, renovation projects can also be attractive for independent brands. Many of the restaurants in Norblin Factory are not actually in the food hall – such as the most recent opening, Amar Beirut, which has taken up an entire independent building with an area of 700 sqm. Something similar is happening with Browary Warszawskie and Elektrownia Powiśle, where the food halls are being supplemented with additional, separate restaurants that are usually more expensive to dine in. At Koneser in Warsaw’s Praga district, there is no food hall at all, while in Montownia in Gdańsk, all the food concepts operate from a common area.

Greenery, museums and music

The popularity of mixed-use projects with historic buildings means has led to them gradually becoming less exceptional, which in turn means that they have to stand out from one another to attract customers. A good location, however, can be a major advantage in this regard – for example, Elektrownia Powiśle is situated along Warsaw’s Vistula boulevard, while Montownia can benefit from the tourist traffic generated by the Museum of the Second World War and the European Solidarity Centre in Gdańsk. “For Browary Warszawskie, one exceptional factor has turned out to be its green areas, which are much larger than other similar developments,” points out Karolina Prędota-Krystek. “Nonetheless, this is still not enough. In response to the needs of our guests and tenants, we are in the middle of adding more greenery to Browary. And, following on from this, we are right now adding more greenery to the Ogrody Anny gardens in Fuzja and enlarging the outdoor gardens for the restaurants,” she explains.

According to Kinga Nowakowska, one of the selling points of Food Town in Norblin Factory is its Gimlet Live entertainment zone, which has live music seven days a week: “This is a huge attraction that draws guests in to the entire Norblin Factory complex, because people need some excitement. Gimlet is exceptional because no one was ever previously bold enough to provide such a large hall for concerts. It doesn’t have any tenants, so it doesn’t make any money in itself; but due to the entertainment laid on, the bars and the food tenants are more profitable,” she emphasises.

Mixed-use projects in renovated buildings have now been part of our cityscapes for so long that it’s clear that there is simply no room for complacency – even for the most attractive projects. As a result, investors and managers are now competing with each other to hold the best concerts, markets, exhibitions, festivals and other attractions. “Two years after the opening of Browary Warszawskie, if nothing had changed, people would now be saying it was a little boring. But catering follows its own rules. There’s always room for new additions and improvements,” concludes Karolina Prędota-Krystek.