The LOT Building (), originally known as the Furniture House (), is a

modernist Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...

pavilion In architecture, ''pavilion'' has several meanings; * It may be a subsidiary building that is either positioned separately or as an attachment to a main building. Often it is associated with pleasure. In palaces and traditional mansions of Asia ...

and office building in

Gdańsk Gdańsk is a city on the Baltic Sea, Baltic coast of northern Poland, and the capital of the Pomeranian Voivodeship. With a population of 486,492, Data for territorial unit 2261000. it is Poland's sixth-largest city and principal seaport. Gdań ...

, Poland, located at 2 and 4 Wały Jagiellońskie Street, within the Śródmieście district. It was first built as a

furniture store A furniture retailer, furniture store or furniture shop is a retail business that sells furniture and related accessories. Furniture retailers usually sell general furniture (like beds, tables, bookcases and wardrobes), seats and upholstered ...

, later being owned by

LOT Polish Airlines LOT Polish Airlines, legally Polskie Linie Lotnicze LOT S.A. (, ''flight''), is the flag carrier of Poland. A founding member of IATA, it is one of the world's oldest airlines. With a fleet of 87 aircraft as of June 2025, LOT is Europe's 16th ...

. It is on the heritage list of the

gmina The gmina (Polish: , plural ''gminy'' ) is the basic unit of the administrative division of Poland, similar to a municipality. , there were 2,479 gminy throughout the country, encompassing over 43,000 villages. 940 gminy include cities and tow ...

of Gdańsk.

History

The building was built on the grounds of , a hotel built in the 19th century. It was designed by architect . Construction began in 1959 and concluded in 1961, officially being opened on 27 November 1961 and nicknamed the "glass palace" () by the media. The store inside the building was known for selling modern and comfortable furniture. In 1979, it was rebuilt for the purposes of

, which set up its local offices inside of it. It has since undergone various stylistically controversial changes. Since the start of the 21st century, suggestions have been put forward to replace the pavilion with a new building, including a proposal to rebuild the old Danziger Hof hotel. In 2012, the company Elfeko S.A. bought the building for 12.5 million zł to construct a hotel which would be completed by 2017. An

architectural design competition An architectural competition is a type of design competition, in which an entity that intends to build new work, or is just seeking ideas, invites architects to submit design proposals. The winning scheme is usually chosen by an independent panel ...

was held to determine a new design for said hotel; however, ultimately, no winner was chosen and the proposed design resulted in the voivodeship heritage conservator protecting from demolition it on account of its architectural distinctiveness in January 2020.

Architecture

The building is located between the and

Targ Węglowy The Coal Market Square (Polish language, Polish: ''Targ Węglowy''; German language, German: ''Kohlenmarkt''; Kashubian language, Kashubian: ''Wãglowi Tôrg'')Dr. Florjan Cenôva, Skôrb Kaszébskosłovjnskjè mòvè, str.83, Svjecè, 1866 is a s ...

, close to the . Most of its exterior is covered by glass. It has a floor area of .{{cite web , last=Budnik , first=Ewa , date=15 March 2012 , title=Budynek LOT-u idzie pod młotek , url=https://www.trojmiasto.pl/wiadomosci/Budynek-LOT-u-idzie-pod-mlotek-n56445.html , website=trojmiasto.pl , access-date=20 July 2025

References

Buildings and structures in Gdańsk 1961 establishments in Poland Economy of Gdańsk Retail buildings in Poland Office buildings in Poland Commercial buildings completed in 1961 Office buildings completed in 1961 LOT Polish Airlines Objects of cultural heritage in Poland Modernist architecture in Poland