Terraced House in Kraków

Address

18 Kościuszki Street
30-105 Kraków, Poland

General information

Building manager

The Municipal Buildings Management in Krakow is an organisational unit of the Municipality of Krakow, responsible for managing residential (including social) and commercial buildings and other premises that the City of Krakow owns. Currently manages over 500 buildings and almost 9,000 premises (including residential and commercial units). Over 130 buildings managed by ZBK are under conservation protection and are typologically identical or similar to the FuturHist demo building.

Building age

It was built in the first half of the 19th century and was partly modernised in 1890.

Protection level

Listed on the National Heritage List

Building use

Residential, social housing: 2 flats on 1st floor.

There are three service premises on the ground floor (including a famous antiquarian bookshop) and one art workshop in the attic.

Building area

The total area is 677 sqm; the heated area is 359 sqm.

Construction type

Solid brick masonry and timber roof covered with metal sheets.

Building typology

Like 83.43% of historic buildings in the country, the demo case building has solid brick masonry walls with box-type windows and a cellar with a dirt floor and brick foundation. The building used to be heated with tiled stoves and use passive stack ventilation.

Geographical area and context

Krakow has a semi-continental climate with a fusion of different features, giving the city variable meteorological conditions over a short time—average temperatures in summer range from 18.6 to 20.4°C and winter from −0.6 to 0.8°C. In summer, temperatures often exceed 25°C, while winter can drop to −15°C. The inner city suffers from an urban heat island with temperatures up to7°C higher than the surroundings.

Ongoing activities

In 2018-19, heating sources using solid fuels were replaced and changed to electric and gas heating sources (Krakow was the first city in Poland to ban solid fuels in 2019).

Over half the windows were replaced in the last five years

In 2023, the following improvements were made:

connection to district heating (12.2023),
new internal heating and hot water installations,
liquidation of the gas installation,
renovation of the central electrical installation.

The technical project has been prepared for the renovation of:

the façade, side elevation, and rear elevation,
insulation of foundation walls,
renovation or replacement of all remaining old windows and doors,
renovation of the basement and staircase.

The necessary permission from the heritage conservator office and a building permit were obtained.

Works planned under the FuturHist project

Insulation of the building envelope, including internal facade insulation and internal and/or external insulation of other elevations (e.g. prefabricated lime plaster panels; bio-based external insulating plaster).

Reintroduction of traditional clay insulation of foundation walls on the back of the building,

Insulation of the attic floor with recycled or natural insulation materials (e.g., blown-in cellulose).

Renovation or replacement of the remaining windows.

The use of nature-based solutions (NBS), façade gardens at the back and possibly on the front, to improve the climate, protect the building foundations against dampness, and protect the façade against overheating – ivy on the southern and eastern facades.

Tanks and installations for collecting and using rainwater will be constructed in the building and the garden.

Installation of mechanical ventilation with heat recovery (due to the liquidation of coal-fired furnaces and gas boilers, the building has unused chimney ducts that might be used to distribute additional ventilation ducts; a central ventilation unit might be located in the large attic).

PV installation on the southern slope of the roof.

Smart control of heating and ventilation systems in individual premises.