Flashes of blue stand out against the stark white and grey interior of this police headquarters in Poland by Poznań Projekt and mode:lina architekci (+ slideshow).
The Voivodeship Police Headquarters in Poznań was redesigned to improve disabled access to the building and create a modern interior for the police department.
Inside the building, sharp corners have been smoothed off and the walls, floors and ceilings are painted white and dark grey.
The flashes of blue on the reception desk and chairs hint at the official function of the building.
The interior was completely remodelled but the design of the exterior was partly determined by the building's heritage status.
Last September, mode:lina created an audio installation from plastic tubes for Dezeen Platform at Dezeen Space in Shoreditch, and they also told us about the project in a filmed interview.
See all our stories about police stations »
Photographs are by Marcin Ratajczak.
Here's some more text from the architects:
Pracownia Architektoniczna and Poznań Projekt, in collaboration with mode:lina architekci, have designed the main entrance to the Voivodeship Police Headquarters in Poznań, situated in a building which is a part of a historic urban structure.
The aim of this renovation was to adjust the entrance for disabled users as well as set a new standard for police interiors. In order to provide equal chances to enter the building some rough cuts and changes were made. While the exterior part had to be approved by city's heritage conservator, architects had a free hand to design the interior.
'Simple and clear' - that was how we planned to design the interior. We decided to use white and dark grey as a background for blue – an official police colour. The main circulation is marked in white both on the floor and the Barrisol LED-lit ceiling.
Click above for larger image
Blue splashes on the reception desk and furniture leave no doubt that you are in the Police Headquarters. Even though being a policeman is tough, we softened the appearance of the interior by rounding all the angles and corners.
Awkward combination of beautiful chairs and boring architecture.
This is Police Headquarters – what did You expect Paul? It's clean and nice and I love it!
Very J. Mayer H.
It would have been great in 1995.
I agree with Paul. This building seems like something people from the 1970s would have thought buildings would look like in 2020. A shame indeed I must say.
Cops ruin everything.
There is an unsettling sci-fi pastiche about this space that is neither fully embraced or well executed. The skirting trim for example is a default in most of Poland’s post war interiors which does not bode well for this Futurama-esque fit-out.
Have the designers of the interior been watching a lot of Star Trek?
“This building seems like something people from the 1970s would have thought buildings would look like in 2020. ”
You mean the interior, right? Because the building IS from the 70′s. For me it looks fine: I think you guessed the concept right and there’s nothing bad in creating the interior in this manner. Though it’s nothing special I like it.
At a first glance I thought to myself: hey, wish Polish police would have something like that and I was totally surprised it actually is in Poland. I wonder where did they take that money from with our police being in such a poor financial condition?
That reception desk looks dated, but everything else is pretty slick.
Arrest me!
I see plenty of steps but I didn’t see any RAMPS for wheelchairs!
There's the elevator outside :)
How do you use the 3 seashells anyway?? :P
Look really cheap and out-dated.
There is a TV on the wall but not phones or computers on the reception desk?
So… not a dental practice then.