Orła Białego Square will get a new look

Orła Białego Square will be transformed to become a space for recreation and events, with new greenery and heavily reduced traffic. The bidding process for this project is underway.

The project aims to create an appealing and inviting public space that is in line with the tactical-urbanism concept called “The New Life of the Square” and blends in with the Old Town’s historical urban fabric.  It will see the reconstruction of pavements in Orła Białego Square, parts of Koński Kierat and Staromłyńska Streets, and pedestrian walkways and access points in Grodzka Street. Utility works will include the construction and installation of stormwater drainage and water supply systems, a gas pipeline, power supply lines and an outdoor lighting system. The area will also receive a new surveillance camera system.

A meeting space and new greenery

The area will get new street furniture and greenery. The square will be illuminated by old-style streetlamps in the paved section and six wooden streetlamps in the green section. A small stage will be set up on the site of the former horse mill to host small-scale art events. The Square will have ground-level unfenced outdoor café seating areas. The reconstruction project will preserve most of the existing trees and some of them will be replanted outside the area. Fourteen new trees will be planted. New greenery will also include soft-coloured perennials, grasses and flower beds. The existing turf will be improved and a rain garden will be planted.

Reduced car traffic

The new traffic system will be designed to minimise car traffic. Access will be allowed only for delivery vehicles, private cars parking in inner courtyards, vehicles carrying equipment for social and cultural events, as well as all types of public order and emergency services. Architectural barriers will be removed, kerbs will be sunk and the streets will be levelled to allow unobstructed movement of pedestrians and cyclists.

Zoning

After the reconstruction, the area will be divided into different functional zones:

• the paved northern part of Orła Białego Square, spanning the length of the Palace under the Globe with the fountain as a central feature – this will provide a comfortable setting for organising social and cultural events and facilitating access to ground-level commercial units;
• the green part in the south within the footprint of the former quarter – this will serve environmental functions, invite users to engage in recreation and facilitate the organisation of social and cultural events around the small stage in a nearby location within the footprint of the former horse mill;
• the transitional zone ahead of Joński Square – its function will be to soften the boundary between the stately northern part and the green recreational part in the south;
• the historic Koński Kierat Street – providing access to ground-level commercial units, with new plantings of high and low vegetation and an educational feature that shows the course of former water supply pipes;
• the pedestrian precinct in the eastern part of Orła Białego Square – a redesigned footway connecting former Koński and Węglowy Squares, providing access to ground-level commercial units;
• the northern pedestrian walkway of  Grodzka Street, forming an integral part of Orła Białego Square.

Historical features

The Statute of Flora and the two vases that used to adorn the façade of the Grumbkow Palace (Palace under the Globe) and now stand in the courtyard of the Academy of Art will be reconfigured into a single arrangement again for visitors to admire them together with the façade on which they were once mounted. The heritage fountain will stay where it is and the floor will mark out the course of the wooden water pipe that used to supply water from Warszewskie Hills to the Castle in the 18th century.

The bid closing date is 22 March 2024. The future contractor will have 18 months from site handover to carry out the works.

Szczecińskie Inwestycje Miejskie Sp. z o.o. is the project’s supervisor.