Renoma (Wrocław)
| Renoma, Wrocław | |
|---|---|
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| Former names | Wertheim, Powszechny Dom Towarowy |
| General information | |
| Type | Shopping mall, ex-department store |
| Architectural style | modernism |
| Location | Wrocław Poland |
| Address | Świdnicka 21 |
| Coordinates | 51°06′13″N 17°01′52″E / 51.10361°N 17.03111°E |
| Opened | 15 April 1930 |
| Renovated | 2002-2006 |
| Owner | Centrum Development & Investments |
| Design and construction | |
| Architect | Hermann Dernburg |
| Website | |
| www |
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Renoma (formerly named Powszechny Dom Towarowy Renoma, Wertheim) is a shopping mall in Wrocław, and was once the biggest as well as the most high-end department store in the city. It is situated at 40 Świdnicka Street which connects the Market Square with Piłsudski Street in the historical centre of the city. Renoma was reopened on 25 April 2009, after major modernisation works.
In 1927, the Wertheim consortium in Berlin announced a contest for designing a department store in Wroclaw (then Breslau) city center. Various renowned local architects submitted their projects: Erich Mendelsohn, Werry Roth, Theodor Effenberg and Herman Dernburg, whose concept won. Dernburg’s design was based on steel framework and at the time became the biggest department store in Breslau, encompassing 35,000 square meters and also the largest building of steel framework construction in Europe. In order to realize the project, a few buildings including well prospering hotel and 12 tenements in the location were demolished. All the works were finished in three years and Wertheim Department Store was opened on 2 April 1930. Thanks to Dernsburg’s visionary modern architecture, spacious stores and first use of escalators in the region of Lower Silesia, the department store turned out to be a successful project. Famous among customers was the very well supplied Toy Store display which was composed out of moving toy trains. At the time an idea to expand the store area further into the Savatorplatz existed however due to the Big Crisis it was dismissed. The Jewish Wertheim family did not enjoy the store’s success for long, as fascists came to power and as a result of series of anti-semitic actions they were forced to sell the store to AWAG (Allgemeine Warenhaus Gesellschaft). AWAG limited the retail activity of the store. Moreover, the famous luxury restaurant with terraces with panoramic view of the city was turned into a military canteen. On 12 March 1945 the building was heavily damaged in the course of bombing. Even though it was on fire for several days, the steel framework as well as some parts of ceramic elevation managed to survive.
Soon after the end of the war Renoma was renovated and in 1947 a new department store named Powszechny Dom Towarowy aka Pedet was opened. Even though the building lost its famous pre-war glamour it was the biggest department store in Poland. The ground floor accommodated food stores, a drugstore and a ceramics shop, and the first fabrics store was located on the first floor. Furthermore, in 1948 the store’s offer was expanded by opening a confectionery outlet and a kindergarten. Słowo polskie (“The Polish Voice”) newspaper announced a competition for naming the store. ‘Renoma’ (‘Renown’) was selected as the winning name since it alludes to the pre-war fame and glamour of the store. In 1977 Renoma was added to the heritage list. In the late 1990s Renoma was privatised and in 1998-1999 modernization took place. The first floor was named Galeria Centrum. In 2005-2009 the new owner Centrum Development & Investments performed a thorough modernisation. CDI decided to strictly reinvent the original concept of the building together with expanding the building according to the original idea from the 1930s. Modernisation took place under the guidance of the restorers. The grand opening of the new Renoma took place on 25 of April 2009. Hewlett-Packard is currently hiring some space on the second, fourth, fifth and sixth floors for their outsourcing projects.
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Wikipedia