Feliks Nowowiejski Academy of Music: A New Urban Rhythm

In Bydgoszcz, a city in northern Poland with deep musical roots, the new Feliks Nowowiejski Academy of Music, designed by Warsaw-based plus3-architects, establishes a commanding civic presence.

A new cultural identity for Bydgoszcz

The opening of the complex marks the culmination of a long-term initiative to bring together an academic community that was previously scattered across the city. Combining teaching, music production, and research under one roof was a logistical and technical challenge that also involved a deep awareness of the institution’s identity. The finished project integrates engineering sophistication, spatial quality, and urban sensitivity to meet the diverse demands of contemporary music education.

The new campus occupies a former brickyard, a site long overlooked despite its proximity to the city center. Beyond acting as a catalyst for urban regeneration, the project establishes a new symbolic and spatial anchor for the city’s cultural network.

The low-slung building is massed so that its changing form – when seen from various vantage points – harmonizes with the context. Facing a lake and park, the volume steps down to establish a closer relationship with the landscape and public realm. Along busy Kamienna Street, however, it asserts a metropolitan presence, serving as a natural anchor for the city’s cultural district.

The facade reflects the musical theme that runs through the entire project. Undulating reflections across its glazed surfaces evoke sound waves, transforming the elevation into a rhythmic composition of transparency and light. An interplay between glass and brick creates a vibrant composition, contrasting the lightness of the glazed surfaces with the texture of the vertical masonry. Large apertures dissolve the boundary between the interior and the landscape, framing views of the lake and surrounding greenery while bringing natural light into the heart of the building.

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Acoustic and architectural excellence

The use of brick as the primary building material is particularly significant in that by recalling the site’s industrial heritage, it establishes a material continuity and identity. Hand-molded and with a luminous gray tone, the brickwork reacts to changing light, creating an interplay of depth and shadow that accentuates the building’s dynamic form. Inside, the brickwork becomes an integral part of the acoustic strategy, diffusing sound in the performance spaces to produce a rich, immersive reverberation reminiscent of church architecture.

The project prioritizes acoustics. A “box-in-box” system treats each performance space as an independent volume, structurally isolated from the building’s main frame. Walls, ceilings, and floors are either suspended or decoupled, while floating floors and specialized suspended ceilings prevent vibrations from propagating between spaces. The ventilation systems are also designed as acoustic elements. The concert halls and recording studios use independent systems equipped with silencers, expansion chambers, and flexible membranes that eliminate sound transmission. Even the displacement ventilation under the seats is engineered to ensure near-absolute silence.

Designed as a highly self-sufficient ecosystem, the campus integrates photovoltaic panels, battery storage, and geothermal heat pumps that harness the thermal inertia of the ground. The building only uses the district heating network during extreme weather conditions. High-efficiency heat recovery air-handling units completely replace natural ventilation to maintain a stable, controlled indoor climate. This is essential not only for occupant comfort but also for maintaining musical instruments and supporting vocalists.

“This project carries a deep and unique significance for our practice,” says Katarzyna Głażewska, architect and founder of plus3 architects. “Engaging with this commission was a formidable challenge, but also a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”

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