HALFEN USA Inc.

UNIKATO Residential Building

Unikato supposed to stand in the center of [Katowice](https://www.archdaily.com/tag/katowice) - once a dynamically developing industrial city. The testimony of that era is the impressive modernist buildings. Today, the city is experiencing a demographic crisis and suffers from sub-urbanization. There is a lack of new residential buildings, and the city is subordinated to car traffic generated by people coming here every day to work from the sprawling suburbs. Unikato is to be an impulse to reverse this negative trend and to breathe new life into the area. _Project guidelines. _The project budget was extremely low. The investor provided funds only for a cheap finish - styrofoam, plaster, white plastic windows - and for the balconies, which were to be a storage space for small apartments. _Idea. _Modernist buildings of [Katowice](https://www.archdaily.com/tag/katowice), once bright, for many years exposed to the smog, gradually got dirty and became almost black. Their white windows always contrast with the black of the facade. This observation has become an inspiration for the project. We took from the neighboring pre-war building: dirty plaster color, pedestal in the basement, typical of the surrounding buildings, and balcony motif in relation to the window. Full balustrade covers the exit, thanks to which all the windows appear square. The balcony becomes an extension of the apartment, at the same time providing privacy, which residents quickly appreciated using it for recreation or storage. Thanks to the full balustrades, the building maintains consistency, and the objects kept on the balconies do not disfigure the area.