A Polish department arcade has been shortlisted for Building of the Year 2010 prize at the World Architecture Festival in Barcelona.

The Renoma department store in Wroclaw, southwestern Poland and originally built in 1930 will compete in the “New and old” category at the festival in Barcelona.

Designs by world-famous architects such as Foster and Partners, Zaha Hadid, O’Donnell and Tuomey and Mecanoo are also finalists of the World Architecture Festival contest.

In the interwar period, Renoma was one of the biggest, most modern stores in Europe and was recently renovated and extended by the Meckow Pracownia Projektowa architects firm.

Renoma department store in Wroclaw, photo: mackow.pl

The architects have been recognized by the Barcelona jury for their work in continuing and developing the style and shape of the original building.

“The task seemed to be banal. We were asked to change the ‘skin’ of the building, leaving the rest as it was - but it turned out to be a real challenge,” Zbigniew Mackow told Gazeta Wyborcza.

Renoma is not the only building representing Poland at the World Architecture Festival in Barcelona. A design of a concert hall in the historical city of Torun, by Spanish architects Menis Arquitectos, has qualified in the “Future Projects” category.

The final will take place on 5 November. (mg)

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