In 2022, as part of the monuments grant programme, financed from the budget of the City of Gdynia, works were carried out on 5 buildings entered individually in the register of monuments, and 9 located in areas entered in the register of monuments or included in the municipal register of monuments. Subsidies from the city budget amounted to over PLN 1,230,000.
Below is a brief historical outline and the scope of performed works of subsidised buildings, entered individually in the register of monuments.
Residential Building at 27 Arciszewskich Street -
renovation of chimneys and replacement of guttering
The building before renovation, during and after the work (photo: Office of the Municipal Conservator of Monuments)
One of the seven buildings of the residential houses complex built for families of officers and non-commissioned officers in 1928-1930, on the premises of the complex in Gdynia Oksywie belonging to the Fleet Command and the Training Centre for the Polish Navy Specialists. The author of the project, completed in 1924, was the well-known architect Marian Lalewicz, the creator of many valuable projects in the interwar Gdynia.
In 2021, with the support of the city, works were carried out on the renovation of the chimneys at 26 Arciszewskich Street. In 2022, works were carried out in the building No. 27, also consisting in the renovation of chimneys and replacement of guttering.
All chimneys were demolished below the roofline. Minor defects in the remaining parts were supplemented with plaster mortar. Then chimneys made of new ceramic brick were built using gray mortar mixed with some amount of trass. At the joint of the chimney and the roofline, works were made with galvanized sheet metal, and the old roof drainage system was replaced with a new one, also made of galvanized sheet metal.
Church of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, 46 Armii Krajowej Street
renovation of the stone-ceramic cladding of the ground floor façade
The church building and fragments of the ground floor façade during cleaning (photo: Office of the Municipal Conservator of Monuments)
The church building was designed in 1956 by Jan Borowski and Leopold Taraszkiewicz. In 1957, a social Committee for the Construction of the Church was established, with its main task to raise funds for the construction. Work on the façade and interior design continued for the following few years, after the consecration of the church in 1966. The parishioners brought field stones and ceramics, which were used as cladding for the ground floor façade.
The stones and ceramic crushed stone were soiled and damaged, so the renovation works began with their cleaning. Chipped stones and ceramics pieces were replenished, and weakened grouts were replaced. Minor scratches on the ceramics were touched up.
More information about this renovation - in a separate article.
Gdynia Maritime University, 81-87 Morska Street
renovation of the south-east façade of building A
View of the entire façade after renovation and detail of the entrance to the shelter before and after the works (photo: Office of the Municipal Conservator of Monuments)
State Maritime School Complex, currently Gdynia Maritime University, was designed by Prof. Eng. Arch. Wacław Tomaszewski in the late 1920s. The south-eastern façade of the "A" building, commissioned in June 1930, was included in the conservation works.
The surface of the façade was cleaned using a stream of superheated steam. Then, structurally weakened bricks, grouts and terrazzo plinth were strengthened, brick losses were supplemented and their colours were merged with the original parts of the façade. Window joinery and steel window grilles were restored.
Villa "Gryf", 6 Przemysława Street
insulation of ground floor walls by low-pressure injection
View of the building, a fragment of the damp ground floor and the interior of the building during the works (photo: Office of the Municipal Conservator of Monuments)
The building was erected in 1932 as part of the summer resort of 'Orłowo Morskie', according to the design of Maksymilian Zuske-Zdzierz. Stylistically heterogeneous, referring to romantic and historical forms, is an unprecedented example - in Gdynia - of the interpenetration of historical and contemporary influences. As a result of the adaptation for residential purposes carried out in recent years by the new owner, the historical appearance of the building was restored and prepared for further functioning.
The subsidised works included the execution of a horizontal insulation membrane of the ground floor walls through the use of low-pressure injection. The works included external and internal walls and two column bases. The injection was carried out through drilled holes on one side of the walls, and in the bases of the columns from different directions. Packers (injectors) were installed in the holes, and the remaining space was filled with injection mortar.
"Polish YMCA", 26 Żeromskiego / 8-12 Derdowskiego
renovation of wooden door and window joinery
View of the building, interior doors after renovation and exterior doors before and after renovation (photo B. Ponikiewski, Municipal Conservator of Monuments Office)
The building was raised in 1948-1951 as the seat of the Gdynia branch of the "Polish YMCA", the YMCA association (Young Men's Christian Association) according to the design of Stefan Koziński, the author of many modernist buildings in Gdynia.
Maintained in a modernist style, it has retained the original interior layout, numerous furnishings and decor elements, including all exterior doors and part of the interior joinery, which has been renovated.
The subsidised works included the renovation of two windows giving light to staircases, four pairs of external doors and five pairs of internal doors. After cleaning and removing the secondary paints, repairs were made to the frames, mechanisms and steel elements. Only damaged elements of the window glazing were replaced, as well as the secondary locks and signboards on some doors, replacing them with elements crafted in a historical style.
Both glass brick walls were subjected to multi-stage cleaning from dirt, graffiti and posters, which revealed the state of preservation of individual bricks and secondary bricklaying. At that time, the condition of the bricks underwent a thorough inventory and assessment. A lot of them needed to be replaced, and numerous restorations needed to be made. Unfortunately, due to difficulties related to the production and availability of analogous bricks, only a few dozen were obtained, therefore it was possible to replace damaged and secondary elements only within one glass unit and half of the second unit on the eastern façade.
The remaining buildings renovated under the monuments grant programme, financed from the budget of the Municipality of Gdynia, will soon be presented in a separate article.
Author: Luiza Skrzypkowska (l.skrzypkowska@gdynia.pl)