It’s here! Tallest building in EU officially opens its doors to become ‘new symbol of Warsaw’
Warsaw now officially has the tallest building in the European Union.
Work on Varso Tower, which stands at 310 metres and eclipses the Palace of Culture and Science, has been completed and is waiting for its first tenants to move in.
Standing in the centre of the capital, as many as 16 trees have been planted on a terrace 206 meters high, making it the highest garden in Warsaw.
Tall trees are also inside the building in the spacious 10-metre-high lobby.
Tall trees are also inside the building in the spacious 10-metre-high lobby. Two of the lobby walls are covered with hand-made ceramic mosaics made of 1,800 tiles referring to Warsaw’s history.
On the 49th and 53rd floor floors there are two public viewing terraces, and right below them will be a restaurant and bar with a panoramic view of Warsaw. The higher of the two terraces is a staggering height of 230 metres.
Visitors can reach the viewing terraces using one of two super-fast, panoramic lifts. They will likely become a popular tourist attraction and will be available in 2023.
Two of the lobby walls are covered with hand-made ceramic mosaics made of 1,800 tiles referring to Warsaw’s history.
The skyscraper offers 70,000 sqm of class-A workspace on 53 floors. Up to 12,000 people will be able to start work in the building. In the garage of the skyscraper, there are 1,100 spaces for cars, 750 for bicycles, and 80 for motorcycles.
Developer HB Reavis said in a statement: “Our flagship investment has transformed a section of the centre of Warsaw. Designed by Foster + Partners, the 70,000 sqm skyscraper is one of the new symbols of the capital, as well as the tallest building in the European Union in terms of architectural height.”
On the 49th and 53rd floor floors there are two public viewing terraces, and right below them will be a restaurant and bar with a panoramic view of Warsaw. The higher of the two terraces is a staggering height of 230 metres.
The main part of the building, designed by renowned architects Foster + Partners, reaches 230 metres. However, in February 2021 an 80-metre spire was added allowing it to surpass Poland’s previous tallest building the Palace of Culture and Science next door, which stands at 237 metres if its antenna is included.
It joins a forest of skyscrapers that have grown up to the west of Warsaw's city centre in the last decade, which include Warsaw Spire (220 metres), Skyliner (195 metres) and Skysawa (155 metres).
It is the sixth largest building in the whole of Europe, coming in behind five towers in Russia topped off by Lakhta Tower in St Petersburg.
Varso Tower joins a forest of skyscrapers that have grown up to the west of Warsaw's city centre in the last decade, which include Warsaw Spire (220 metres), Skyliner (195 metres) and Skysawa (155 metres).
According to the developer: “The timeless, slender body of Varso Tower is varied by vertical steps in the upper part, and the division of the façade gives it lightness and elegance.”
Companies such as cloud services provider Box (16,000 sqm), renowned law firm CMS (7,500 sqm) and Greenberg Traurig (5,000 sqm) and a confidential tenant (10,000 sqm) have already rented offices in the tower.
The first tenants are currently arranging their offices and they are due to move into Varso Tower as early as September.
Varso Tower is part of Varso Place, a multifunctional complex with a total area of 140,000 sqm that includes two lower buildings of approximately 80 and 90 metres in height. Varso 1 and Varso 2 comprise a total of 75,000 sqm of space.
Correction: an earlier version of this article incorrectly said there were 100 parking spaces for cars.
