New Horizons Cinema by BUCK.ARCHITEKCI // Wroclaw, Poland.

I’ve always made a conscious effort to share as many different types of projects with you as I can – from high profile to under the radar, large scale to boutique, big budget to… errr, not so much. As designers, we all dream of amazing clients who give us a blank cheque, complete creative freedom and a generous timeframe to boot. Errr, oh, and they pay us massive fees for our work. Also make that project a boutique hotel, thank you very much. Right? Right. But when we are faced with the exact opposite, what happens? Some run and hide, others face the challenge head on and get resourceful. The latter folk are my heroes. (As Mariah would say, “And then a hero comes along…”)

In 2012, young Polish firm, BUCK.ARCHITEKCI, were commissioned to redesign a three-storey new foyer for one of the largest art house cinemas in Europe – The New Horizons (Kino Nowe Horyzonty) in Wroclaw. In addition to regular film screenings, the cinema foyer also plays host to cultural festivals, exhibitions and educational programs.

According to the architects, “key ideas of the designing process were based on openness and flexibility. The main goal was to create the place where the intuition and preferences of the user determine the space. That is why all the equipment was designed to be diverse, mobile and easy to rearrange.”

Here comes the clincher. BUCK.ARCHITEKCI had just 4 weeks to design the interior, furniture and lighting, and the renovation took only 6 days. The architects managed the entire process and, in order to keep the limited budget under control, they designed key furniture and lighting pieces themselves. They collaborated with local maker and manufacturers to have everything produced in the short timeframe. Madness. But haven’t they done a fantastic job? Although super simple, the space is fun, high on personality, with a healthy does of spunk.

BUCK.ARCHITEKCI, founded in 2008 by architects Dominika Buck and Pawel Buck, is a progressive architecture practice operating in the fields of contemporary architecture and design including interiors, hospitality and retail design, branding and brand experience in architectural environments.

[Photos by Mateusz Gzik and Slawek Okrzesik, courtesy of BUCK.ARCHITEKCI.]