The Varso complex is located in Wola district, in the corner of Chmielna Street and John Paul II Avenue. Construction takes place on a plot of 1.72 ha, purchased in 2011 from PKP by the Slovak company HB Reavis for ca. 171 mln PLN. The estimated cost of the construction is at around 500 mln EUR. Initially the project was named Chmielna Business Center and was later changed to Varso, which references latin name for Warsaw - Varsovia.
Project
Original plan was to build a 130 m tall skyscraper. Project was later revised and total height of Varso Tower was increased to 310 m. Varso Place is a complex of three buildings: a 310 m main tower and two buildings with a height of 81 m and 90 m called respectively Varso 1 & Varso 2. The total area of the Varso Place is 140000 m² with 10 300 m² dedicated to commercial services. British based architecture studio Foster and Partners designed the main tower and HRA Architekci was resposnible for designing the remaining Varso 1 and Varso 2 buildings. At a height of 230 meters, Vista Terrace will become a public observation deck offering panoramic views of the city. A restaurant and a bar called Skytop Restaurant & Bar will occupy 46th and 48th floors. All three buildings will be connected to each other on the ground floor level and the entire complex will be connected to Warsaw Central station. A four storey underground car park will accommodate approximately 1100 cars, 80 motorbikes and 750 bicycles. Modernising surrounding Chmielna Street is a part of the investment and it will include new pavements, street lamps, benches, bike stands and signage as well as planting shrubs and trees.
Construction timeline
The general contractor is HB Reavis Construction - a company from the HB Reavis Group. The building permit for Varso was obtained in December 2016 with construction work commencing the same month. In October 2017, at a depth of 10 m, a 60 ton glacial erratic was excavated at the construction site. It was pulled out using a specialized crane and then transported to Pole Mokotowskie, where it stood next to the National Library. In the future, it will be moved back and displayed next to the entrance of Varso Tower. Varso 1 will be the first to open in February 2020, with a two-level fitness club and a clinic. A four-star NYX hotel offering 331 rooms will open in May. Varso 2 will open in May including the Cambridge Innovation Center and BGK bank. A passage along the first floors of all VARSO buildings will be gradually opened throughout the year. Varso Gallery will include restaurants, bars and many services including Nutrimind Group, Menya Musashi, Karmello, Salad Story, Vincent, Wrap Me, table and Ox and Quattro Formaggi as well as beauty salon Nail Spa, travel agency Sun Way Travel and currency exchange. Autumn 2020 - Varso Tower will reach a height of 236 m. December 2020/ January 2021 - The 80 m spire will be installed taking the total height to 310 m. End 2021 - End of the construction. 2022 - companies will start occupying Varso Tower, Skytop Restaurant & Bar and Vista Terrace will open.
