Polska Filharmonia Bałtycka im. Fryderyka Chopina, Gdańsk

This is the Polish Baltic F. Chopin Philharmonic, a concert venue created inside a former power station on Ołowianka. Its brick façade gives the building a striking neo-Gothic character, with rosettes, turrets and a pair of towers worked into the design. The power station was built by Siemens & Halske from 1897 to 1898, then enlarged through 1913.

It operated until 1996, when the industrial complex began its transformation into a concert centre. Adaptation of the old buildings took place from 1996 to 2005, under the architectural studio of Martin Kozikowski and KD Kozikowski Design. The result is a group of seven connected sections, including a main auditorium for 1,000 listeners, a chamber hall for 200, exhibition space, multi-purpose rooms and a hotel.

Inside the main hall, movable ceiling screens let the acoustics be adjusted for different performances. The hall’s organ has 91 stops and four manuals; it was built by Kuhn in 1955 for Lausanne Cathedral and moved here in 2004. The institution itself began in 1945, and its inaugural concert was held on September 29 in Sopot. A bronze bust of Frédéric Chopin, made by Gennady Jerszow, was installed here in 2007.