BBGK Architekci has transformed this riverside site, encompassing four city blocks, with residential buildings, a network of public spaces, a north-south urban avenue with wide sidewalks and tree-lined avenues, a perpendicular east-west pedestrian walkway with two landscaped plazas, and a riverside boulevard. Vegetation plays a central role in both public spaces and courtyards.
Human-scale proportions are employed, inviting people to linger in the spaces. Shops and services are located on the ground floor, and the central avenue is conceived as a traditional shopping street, a hallmark of vibrant European urban life.
Two types of buildings are being constructed in this first phase: four-story buildings with two additional setbacks, and 11-story towers with minimalist and rhythmic facades, using high-quality materials such as granite, sandstone panels, and solid wood.
Urban Quarter "Nowy Port" by BBGK Architekci. Photograph by Nate Cook.
Project description by BBGK Architekci
Industrial heritage
The architects were tasked with transforming a centrally located site in Bydgoszcz — a city of 350,000 residents — whose industrial history dates back to the late 19th century. At the intersection of today’s Marcinkowskiego and Obrońców Bydgoszczy streets, a production facility was established and gradually expanded into a shipbuilding factory. A section of the present-day Marcinkowskiego Street was then known as “Nad Portem” (“By the Port”). Although the site changed owners and specializations throughout the 20th century, it was the memory of its shipyard era that inspired the project’s name, "Nowy Port". Several 19th-century factory buildings have been restored to preserve this heritage.
The post-industrial area, unused for more than a decade, is now undergoing a transformation into a contemporary urban space. The investor and architects aimed to create a coherent piece of the city: a block stitched into the surrounding fabric, offering a varied program of multifunctional public spaces. As the architects emphasize, "Nowy Port" was intended as a manifesto—showcasing how contemporary cities can become attractive places to live.
A new urban quarter on the river
The site is defined by two powerful contextual anchors: the historic tenement-house fabric and the presence of the Brda River. BBGK Architekci’s masterplan envisioned a compact, urban block that strengthens and completes Bydgoszcz’s spatial structure.
The project is organised into three layers. The first comprises preserved buildings: three factory structures and a historic tenement, all restored in collaboration with the heritage conservator. The second is the new block development, whose scale continues and complements the 19th-century urban context of the city center.
The third consists of four vertical accents — 11-storey, 36-meter towers placed within the interior of the site. Their river-facing silhouettes create a dynamic tension between the lower historic fabric and the taller contemporary volumes. Two of the towers were built in the first phase. Together with the stepped form of the Nordic Haven residential building across the river, they will frame a contemporary gateway to the city.
City avenue and riverfront promenade
The urban layout is designed as four inner-city blocks divided by a new north–south city avenue with broad sidewalks and tree alignments, and a perpendicular east–west pedestrian passage with two landscaped squares. The design intention was to create conditions that support vibrant urban life — spaces that invite people to linger.
The architects employed human-scaled proportions and gradation of spaces. All ground floors facing public areas will house retail and service functions. The central avenue, lined with shops, restaurants and cafés, is conceived as a traditional commercial street — a hallmark of lively European city centers.
The riverfront adds further value for residents and the city: a promenade with recreational spaces and dining venues located in both new and historic buildings. Greenery plays an equal role in the project, appearing in public spaces as well as within the interior courtyards. Around 20,000 plantings have already been introduced.
Simplicity and rhythm
The new buildings are primarily four storeys high, with two additional recessed floors on selected sections of the block. The 11-storey towers mark the development in the city silhouette. Their slender façades, shaped by a distinctive grid of loggias, contrast with the more solid side walls. The architectural character is defined by minimalist façades with rhythmic divisions and subtly sculpted, wave-like concrete cornices.
The restrained form is complemented by high-quality materials in muted tones: panels of light grey sandstone and black granite, coloured architectural concrete, and solid timber window frames. Apartments facing the river feature deep, three-meter terraces and panoramic glazing.
The completed ensemble constitutes the first of four phases of "Nowy Port". This stage includes seven new buildings with 177 apartments as well as retail and office spaces.
