Katowice is one of the first cities in Poland where skyscrapers were built. Earlier than the Home of the professors of Silesian Technical Scientific Institutes, commissioned in 1931 and about 35 m high, only the 51-meter high skyscraper PAST in Warsaw, about 35-meter Hotel Savoy in Łódź and two skyscrapers in then German Wrocław were created. In 1934, the first high-rise lifts, which were the Katowice Drapacz Chmroń (60 m) and the Warsaw Prudential, were put into use.(66 m). Currently in Katowice there are about 40 buildings with a minimum height of 50 meters or 16 storeys (counting the ground floor), including about 30 buildings not lower than 60 meters. In addition, Katowice has the fourth tallest building in Poland built outside Warsaw – the Altus office building. Currently, Katowice is the second, after Warsaw, city in Poland in terms of the number of high-rise buildings, but they are the leader in the number of skyscrapers per capita and per sq.km².
The interwar period
Before the war, the House of Professors of the Silesian Technical Research Institutes and the Cloud Skyscraper were established. In addition, several high-rise buildings were built – 10-storey at ul. M. Skłodowskiej-Curie, 9-storey at Al. Korfantego and 8-story near the Skyscraper. The buildings were also propaganda in nature – they were supposed to show the strength of the Śląskie Voivodeship in other parts of Poland and abroad, especially in Germany, where such buildings were not built.
Years of PRL
In the early years of the Polish People’s Republic, no high-rise buildings were built in Katowice. The government decided that Katowice and the entire Śląskie Voivodship would be an industrial zone in Poland, so service functions were pushed into the background. The only bigger buildings were blocks of flats, however none of them exceeded the 60-meter limit.
For the next boom in the field of skyscrapers, the city had to wait until the beginning of the 1970s. At the same time, new space was lacking in the center of Katowice, and shortages in the office space were revealed. The authorities began to allow the construction of high-rise buildings. During this period, the majority of Katowice’s high office buildings were built. In addition, large housing estates were built, with the Osiedle Tysiąclecia in the forefront. In 1972, the Super Unit was put into operation – a giant block of flats modeled on the Marseilles Unit. More than 700 families inhabited it. A few years later, there was DOKP, which dominated over Ronde and Spodek, until June 2015, when its demolition began.
In the eighties, more skyscrapers were built: Stalexport / Węglokoks and the Wojewódzki office building. In addition, the highest residential blocks in Katowice – the so-called Maize at the Tysiąclecia and Gwiazda housing estate.
After 1989
In the 1990s, the city’s development, and therefore the construction of high-rise buildings, was halted. However, the construction of the last Maize was finished, several lower buildings were built. For the next construction boom, it was necessary to wait until 2000. After that, the skyscrapers began to form only slightly more slowly than in Warsaw. First of all, Chorzowska 50, Office Building of ING Bank Śląski and Altus should be mentioned here.
List of all completed high-rise buildings in Katowice above 50 m according to the total height
| Lp. | The name of the building | Destiny | Overall height (m) |
L. storeys | Year of completion of construction |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Altus | Offices | 125 | thirty | 2003 |
| 2. | Provincial skyscraper | Offices | 105 | 21 | 1985 |
| 3. | Stalexport 1 | Offices | 99 | 21 | 1981 |
| 4. | Stalexport 2 | Offices | 92 | 19 | 1982 |
| 5. | DOC (demolished) | Offices | 90 | 17 | 1974 |
| 6. | Corn 1 | Flats | 90 | 27 | 1988 |
| 7. | Corn 3 | Flats | 87 | 27 | 1989 |
| 8. | Maize 2 | Flats | 85 | 27 | 1991 |
| 9. | Haperowiec | Flats | 83 | 23 | 1968 |
| 10. | Star 1 | Flats | 81 | 24 | 1978 |
| 11. | Star 2 | Flats | 81 | 24 | 1978 |
| 12. | Star 3 | Flats | 81 | 24 | 1978 |
| 13. | Star 4 | Flats | 81 | 24 | 1978 |
| 14. | Star 5 | Flats | 81 | 24 | 1978 |
| 15. | Star 6 | Flats | 81 | 24 | 1978 |
| 16. | Star 7 | Flats | 81 | 24 | 1978 |
| 17. | French office building 70 | Offices | 73 | 14 | 1965 |
| 18. | Chorzowska 50 | Offices | 68 | 14 | 2001 |
| 19. | GIG | Offices | 65 | 13 | 1973 |
| 20. | Skyscraper | Apartments | 62 | 14 | 1934 |
| 21. | Skyscraper Katowice 65 | Flats | 62 | 18 | 1972 |
| 22.-32. | skyscrapers on the os. millennium | Flats | 62 | 19 | 1966-1982 |
| 33. | Superjednostka | Flats | 61 | 15 | 1968-1970 |
| 34. | glider | Flats | 60 | 19 | 1969 |
| 35. | New Millennium | Flats | 60 | 17 | 2013-2020 |
| 36. | Silesia Business Park | Offices | 55 | 12 | 2013-2017 |
| 37. | Four towers – tower A | Flats | 53 | 17 | 2014 |
In addition, the height of 35 meters recognized as the lower elevation of the high rise is Spodek, Milenium Plaza office, Citibank Handlowy branch, Separator, ING Bank Śląski office, Silesia Hotel, residential buildings called dollars, two apartment buildings at Osiedle Tysiąclecia, TV tower Katowice (90 meters together with a mast), several churches along with the Cathedral of Christ the King, a parachute tower, many blocks on the Witosa and Paderewski housing estate and several mine chimneys and power plants.
Skyscrapers under construction and planned
In the years 2008-2011, about 20 high-rise buildings were planned in Katowice (each above 80 meters), however, due to the financial crisis, most of these investments were suspended or discontinued. The most well-known investments were Jupiter Plaza, Multifunctional Center or KCB Residental. In addition, Hollybrook skyscrapers, Silesia Atrium, Silesia Towers, Gant Towers, Havre Towers and many more. The plan was also to build a LC Corp Tower skyscraper, Wroclaw’s company LC Corp, 106 m high, located at al. Roździeńskiego 10. Due to the proximity of the Muchowiec airport, construction of any building over 40 meters requires the consent of the Silesian Aeroclub, so now all construction in the center must undergo an expensive and long procedure.
The Four Wieże investment, the company Activ Investment, has been under construction since 2011, assuming construction of four high-rise buildings at the Tysiąclecia housing estate, each 53 meters high. The first building was ready in the first quarter of 2014. In June 2013 at ul. Chorzowska at the height of Silesia City Center began construction of the first of four office buildings, Silesia Business Park with a total usable area of 46,000 m² and a height of 55 m (12 floors). The first building of the complex was put into operation at the end of November 2014. At ul. Millennium in October 2013, the construction of a complex of residential buildings Nowe Tysiąclecie has begun, which will ultimately consist of five 11- and 17-storey buildings.
| Lp. | The name of the building | Destiny | Height (m) | Number of floors | Year of completion of construction |
Investor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Four towers tower D |
Flats | 53 m | 17 | November 2018 | Activ Investment |
| 2. | Silesia Business Park tower D |
Offices | 55 m | 16 | September 2018 | Skanska |
| 3. | New Millennium | Flats | 60 m | 17 | June 2019 | JW Construction |
| 4. | .KTW | Offices | 66 m | 14 | June 2018 | TDJ Estate |
| 5 | .KTW II | Offices | 133 m | 31 | TDJ Estate |
In July 2016, the construction of two skyscrapers.KTW I and.KTW II was started at the site of the existing DOKP building.
Source from Wikipedia