MJZ

ReVistula — A Net-Zero Landmark Office

Designed by MJZ with .studio for Syrena Real Estate for property acquisition, ReVistula proposes the transformation of an existing office building on Warsaw’s Vistula riverfront into a net-zero landmark workplace. Instead of demolition, the project reuses the existing structure, exposing its raw concrete slabs and turning them into terraces that support a hydro-botanical façade system inspired by the wild ecology of the Vistula River.

A new glass façade, recessed within the existing envelope, improves environmental performance while allowing the original structure to remain visible. The building operates as a living system: water circulates through CNC-shaped channels integrated into wooden elements along each floor, cooling the structure and supporting vegetation that filters and reuses greywater. Plants act simultaneously as shading, microclimate regulators and part of the building’s environmental infrastructure.

The roof extends this strategy into a hydro-botanical landscape with a pond that integrates aquatic vegetation for natural water filtration, forming part of the building’s closed-loop water system and contributing to passive climate regulation. An additional floor, enabled by local zoning, is constructed using an exposed CLT waffle structure, creating a flexible, column-free space for work and events while expressing the tectonic logic of timber construction.

ReVistula is conceived as a premium workplace for global ESG-driven companies and as a pilot model for transforming existing buildings into climate-responsible assets — shifting architecture from demolition to regeneration.

Some projects take time. And that’s the point.

We often stay with a site longer than expected.
Not to delay — but to understand when the real opportunity appears.

Market conditions change.
So does the interpretation of local regulations or new cityplans are approved.

What was impossible yesterday
can become viable tomorrow.

We develop multiple detailed project studies over time —
adapting the program, testing scenarios, recalibrating potential.

Sometimes this leads to a completely new direction.
A different building. A different value - for the client,the users and neighbors.

And occasionally —
a chance to create something truly unique.

Constraints can be also an inspiration.

Here you can see how the market condition effected the project proposal to change from an office to a housing and a PRS building.

—

Clients or owners that find this approach interesting can DM us under [email protected]

🇫🇷 MJZ in a French Government-Backed Publication Defining the Future of Post-Carbon Cities

We’ve been featured in a publication by AREP — the French public urban planning agency (fully owned by SNCF), operating with the support of French ministries. This is not just another industry report — it is a government-backed vision document shaping how cities will evolve in the post-carbon era, in France and beyond.

What will our cities look like once we transition to new energy systems?

In this publication, alongside names such as MIT, McKinsey & Company, and Tesla, our project “Filling Stations” has been highlighted.

It proposes a new typology: infrastructure that can transform within days — from traditional fuel stations into green ESG charging hubs. Designed for the electrification of cities, these spaces respond to a simple shift: electric vehicles take longer to charge, so the waiting time itself becomes an opportunity — to create meaningful, valuable experiences.

More info on it here:

https://m-j-z.com/futureofmobility

This recognition confirms that our thinking operates within the same global conversation on the future of cities — and contributes to shaping it.

Merci

Oldie but Goldie…
Urban Canopy Tower, Warsaw (unbuilt / will remain unbuilt)

With so many discussions recently around high-rise development in central Warsaw, we decided to share one of our older unrealised projects — simply as a point of reference.

Urban Canopy Tower was designed for a narrow, triangular plot surrounded by heavy traffic and existing high-rises. Instead of competing for height, the building expanded horizontally, creating large office floorplates while lifting the volume above the ground to form a covered public square and a gateway into the city centre.

Its cascading façades naturally shaded the glazing, while integrated anti-smog greenery was designed to filter air at one of Warsaw’s busiest intersections.

The idea was simple: a building not as an isolated object, but as part of the city’s infrastructure.

The project was never built and will not be built.
But the approach still feels relevant.

Some people say it looks like it’s “pregnant.”
Maybe it is 😉

Carrying public space, greenery and cleaner air for a small part of the city.

"Brownfield Architecture Returns to the Source"
How do you design a headquarters that doesn't just represent a company — but is literally made from its business?

Together with Łoskiewicz Studio, we designed a low-emission, circular office building for one of Poland’s leading aggregate producers — located on an existing artificial island, surrounded by post-extraction lakes, in the heart of an active quarry.

🔨 Built from what the company extracts every day — sand, gravel, and crushed stone
🪨 Shaped by the industrial processes that define their identity — excavation and crushing
♻️ Ready to evolve — the modular structure can be transformed into a premium lakeside hotel or eco-retreat in the future

This is not just about sustainability — it’s about translating industrial legacy into architectural form, while preparing for long-term regeneration.

💬 “Build from what’s beneath your feet.” – Hassan Fathy

Would you sleep in a future hotel built in the middle of a quarry lake?



---------------------------------------------

Brownfieldowa architektura wraca do źródła
Jak zaprojektować siedzibę, która nie tylko reprezentuje firmę — ale dosłownie wyrasta z jej działalności?

Wraz z Łoskiewicz Studio stworzyliśmy koncepcję niskoemisyjnego, cyrkularnego budynku biurowego dla jednego z czołowych producentów kruszyw w Polsce — na istniejącej sztucznej wyspie, otoczonej jeziorami pokopalnianymi, w sercu czynnej kopalni.

🔨 Zbudowany z tego, co firma wydobywa każdego dnia — piasku i kruszywa
🪨 Uformowany przez procesy, które definiują jej tożsamość — wydobycie i kruszenie
♻️ Gotowy na przyszłość — modułowa struktura pozwala przekształcić go w hotel premium lub ekologiczny retreat nad wodą

To nie tylko zrównoważone podejście. To przekształcenie przemysłowego dziedzictwa w formę architektoniczną, gotową na regenerację.

💬 „Buduj z tego, co masz pod stopami.” – Hassan Fathy

A Ty — spędziłbyś noc w hotelu nad jeziorem powstałym z dawnej kopalni?