Poland Poznań with a green Aura

The building on ul. Słowiańska will house 55 units with floor areas ranging from app. 35 to 160 sqm. The urban development plan allows for the construction of a hotel at the site. The future owners can use the premises themselves, but also designate them for long-term or short-term rental. Aura's investor is the Human Touch Group, a company owned by Piotr Voelkel (founder of the Vox brand), who also held an architectural competition for the building.

I have been observing what Robert Konieczny designs and how he thinks for a long time. I was looking for a solution which would reconcile many expectations in this place: comfort of future users, harmony with the nature, recreational surroundings, responsibility for the state of the planet, energy efficiency and consequently reduced operating costs, unique architecture which can be an icon of the city and is a work of art. For such tasks you need a partner who has similar values and understands the goals set, and who has talent and momentum.
Piotr Voelkel

The main consideration was minimal interference with the existing ecosystem and, as far as possible, its enrichment. The park-like nature of the surrounding area, right next to the Citadel park, and the slopes present here were the starting point for the idea.

The idea was that the body of the building should grow out of the existing slope and, as it were, be an extension of it, creating a green hill.
Robert Konieczny

The façade system makes it possible not only to regulate humidity and air temperature inside the building, but also in the immediate surroundings. Plants will grow on a special structure, creating a vertical garden. An air cushion of sorts will be created between them and the façade, acting as a natural insulator, protecting the building above all from heat build-up during hot weather. The greenery will be watered by an automatic system using retention water stored on the plot. Automation will minimise traditional maintenance by human hand. Plant irrigation will be 90 pct from filtered rainwater and snowmelt. The watering system will be powered by photovoltaic panels on the roof.

Due to the innovative nature of the solution, scientists from the Poznań University of Technology and the University of Life Sciences were involved in the design process. The result is a solution that supports the existing ecosystem. Research, which lasted over two years and involved the use of a real-scale mock-up of the façade, enabled an optimal selection of greenery, taking into account the different insolation conditions.

On this basis, those species were selected from among the native species that are most resistant to changing weather conditions and require the least care, so that the façade forms as self-sufficient a system as possible, the architects explain.

Thanks to the commitment of the investor, other designers and artists were also involved in the creation of the project. The Mode:lina studio is responsible for the interior design of the common areas. These will feature works by Alicja Biała and Oskar Zięta, among others, created especially for this space.

Visualisations of the Aura residential building were created by Little Moon studio.