award of the year of SARP

This is one of those pieces of news that brings immense satisfaction after many years of work – the Feliks Nowowiejski Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz has won the 2026 Award of the Year of the Association of Polish Architects (SARP) in the Cultural Building category!

The Competition Jury recognized our project for its “synthesis of rigorous technical requirements and urban sensitivity, as well as the subtle composition and articulation of the building’s external form.”

As stated in the jury citation: “The designers have skillfully integrated a monumental horizontal volume into a previously degraded post-industrial area, completing the axis of the Music District. They transformed a former brickyard into a unique public park, centred around a water-based landscape feature, while the building itself was designed directly on the edge of a newly created retention reservoir.”

Indeed, the former clay pit of the brickyard has gained not only a renewed visual quality through extensive restoration, but also a new ecological function as a water-retention basin. :)

The jury particularly highlighted the project’s sensitive handling of scale, the façade’s subtle references to the institution’s musical identity, and the internal discipline of the design. As noted in the citation: “The architects successfully consolidated the previously dispersed campus functions within a single building, reconciling often conflicting spatial requirements. The interiors are characterised by restraint, material precision and adherence to the rigorous demands of acoustic engineering. The project creates an optimal environment for artistic education, protected from external disturbances while remaining open to dialogue with the city and its residents. The building stands as an exemplary model of sustainable and responsible public architecture.”

We would like to thank the Jury for this distinction, the leadership of the Academy of Music in Bydgoszcz for their trust, and everyone involved in bringing this exceptional project to life, especially the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, Grupa Unibep, and Portico Project Management.