Europe’s largest former bread factory – today’s BaseCamp with Alufire joinery systems
The building formerly home to Europe’s largest bakery factory located on Sienkiewicza Street in Wroclaw – the Old Bakery, also known as the Mammoth – is now BaseCamp (a complex with 775 rooms, including 569 designated as a student house and 206 apartments rented on a short-stay model). It is now the largest private student house in the Lower Silesian capital.
New look and uses for the historic factory
The project, designed by the Grupa 5 Architekci studio, involved preserving the old brick fabric of the building, which dates back to 1866, while adding a new section. Before and just after the war, the complex housed one of Europe’s largest bakeries, before World War II, known as Breslauer Consum Verein, in Poland, after being taken over by PSS Społem, functioning as Piekarnia Mamut. It produced up to 150 tons of bread per day. Now the facility in its new guise is a modern student house equipped with coworking and event spaces, a boutique cinema, playroom, entertainment zone and even a self-service Pay Per Wash laundry.
A historical building brought to the 21st century
A major part of the renovation of today’s flagship facility of the BaseCamp network was the contribution of Alufire, a manufacturer of aluminum fire protection joinery. The solutions used blended perfectly into the historic space. The contract was carried out for the General Contractor of the investment task ERBUD SA in 2020-2022, and its scope was the production, delivery and installation of aluminum fire protection joinery worth almost PLN 2.5 million. More than 1,000 m2 of internal and external structures with a total weight of almost 60 thousand kg were delivered.
In the complex, glazing with increased sound insulation coefficient was used, as well as Venetian mirror walls, to guarantee users the highest level of comfort and privacy. The Alufire Classic Line system fire doors in fire resistance classes EI30, EIS30, EIS60, as well as solutions without fire resistance were used and reliable, The facility also features glazed partitions in the same Alufire Classic Line system in fire resistance classes EI30 and EI60 (including angular and curved structural solutions). It is worth mentioning that the doors supplied by Alufire have been equipped, according to the project, with all the required technical features, such as electric locks, electric strikes and reed switches to facilitate the daily use of the doors, but also as part of a systemic, technical security, protecting the residents of the student house and the property of the newly created facility.
Electric locks, rail and arm door closers, electric door openers, reed switches, glasses with increased acoustic insulation, glasses with Venetian mirrors
