Architect：MIXD

Location：aleja Wyzwolenia 18, Szczecin, Poland; | ;View Map

Project Year：2020

Category：Shopping Centres

The remodeling of the existing food court in CH Galaxy Szczecin by the MIXD studio is aimed at creating an attractive meeting place where Szczeciners of all ages will feel at home. Foodport reflects the atmosphere of a port city with its local character, where almost everyone had or has their close seamen and shipyard workers.

The success of the food court in Pasaż Grunwaldzki in Wrocław - a dynamic and inspiring space targeted at young people - made EPP again decide to cooperate with the MIXD studio. Foodport is another volume of stories about the need for authentic locality, about creating a space where the older and younger will feel at ease and willingly spend time there, with which they will identify. The name is, of course, a reference to the tradition of Szczecin as a city where life revolves around the port - a point where ships from long voyages call and where new ones are built in shipyards.

On the waterfront

Designers from MIXD decided to recreate the visual atmosphere of the port. The central courtyard of the approx. 2,000 m2 food court is surrounded by a wall of containers painted by Szczecin graffiti artists. Restaurants and eateries are somehow built into this circle and freely open towards its center. Here again we will find single containers that will divide the space, fragments of various industrial floors - as if laid and supplemented over the years, until they turn into a real patchwork of tiles. In a truly street, improvised style, a basketball court and stands made of pallets appeared - this is an example of using generally available materials to arrange a space for relaxation and entertainment. Such places can be found not only in the docks of Szczecin, but probably also in every other port city in the world.

Pasztecik and Grzybek

However, two other zones have a strictly local character: "Pasztecik" (Pie) and "Grzybek" (Mushroom). "Pasztecik" is a tribute to the iconic restaurant in Szczecin and the dishes served there - a real street food from Szczecin. The culinary patent, born of the willingness of the employees of the local Społem cooperative to use the machine for baking patties left by the Soviet soldiers, turned into a local tradition and tourist attraction. The bar on Aleja Wojska Polskiego, which has preserved its interior from the times of the Polish People's Republic, served as a source of inspiration for the designers: from there they drew the original mosaic floor pattern and characteristic forms of tables and bar stools made of metal pipes. In turn, "Mushroom" is a cafe full of books and soft armchairs, hidden under the traffic control tower typical of Szczecin in the port, called “the mushroom”. Local artists also participate in the project - their task will be to create works referring to the Szczecin street art tradition: painting on containers or characteristic graffiti created by futbool fans.

Navigare necesse est

Foodport is a place where you can not only satisfy your hunger. The main zone combines gastronomic functions (600 seats) and co-working space. There are tables equipped with sockets for charging laptops and phones, ideal for remote work or casual business meetings. Piotr Kalinowski, the head of the project team, sums up the Foodport project: “We tried to be as close as possible to the real Szczecin life with its nostalgia for the past and a vision of the future. Today, the shipyards are replaced by IT companies and dynamic start-ups, the inhabitants of Szczecin are constantly looking for new ideas for their city and its development. They are not afraid to look for new routes, but they have their port. "

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