On July 15, 2011 Echo Investment took over the buildings of the former Cracovia hotel in Kraków and the former Neptun hotel in Szczecin.

This is a result of the sale and purchase agreement concluded on March 22, 2011 by Echo Investment and Orbis. It concerns the plot at Marszałka Ferdinanda Focha Avenue 1, where the former Cracovia hotel is situated and the area of Jana Matejki Street 18 in Szczecin, where the building of the former Neptun hotel is located.

Both hotels finished their operations on June 30, 2011. The famous Cracovia had been present at the square for nearly 50 years, however, in accordance with the concluded agreement there can be no hotel operations run in the facility. Echo Investment has commenced analytic work and studies to determine the best directions for further work on the entire project. A team of outstanding Kraków-based architects has been entrusted with the work: the author of the urban concept and architecture of Cracovia, Professor Witold Cęckiewicz, and architects from the DDJM architectural studio, under the direction of Marek Dunikowski. The first concepts are to  be presented at the end of 2011.

The former Neptun hotel is to be demolished because the building does not meet the current technical standards. Results of specialist architectural, functional and economic analyses will determine what will be built in its place. The effect of the work on the concept of the area development will be revealed in a few months.

..............................................

WITOLD CĘCKIEWICZ - architect and urban planner, full professor, honoris causa doctor at the Cracow University of Technology, full member of the Polish Academy of Sciences, active member of the Polish Academy of Arts and Sciences.

In the years 1955-1960 he was the Chief Architect of the City of Kraków, in the years 1970-1994 he was the director of the Institute of Urban Planning and Head of the Department of Urban Composition. In 1978 he lectured as a visiting professor at Iowa State University in Ames, USA and in the years 1986-1988 at Städtebauliches Institut in Stuttgart, Germany. In the years 1994-2006 he provided lectures and seminars in sacral architecture at the Pontifical University of John Paul II in Kraków. He is a tutor of several generations of architects and urban planners and a thesis supervisor of approx. 600 M.Sc. candidates, out of whom approx. 70 went on to become researchers and many became famous architects working both in Poland and abroad.

He is the author of many works on urban planning and architecture, including public utility buildings such as: Ośrodek Wczasów Dziecięcych in Kowaniec near Nowy Targ (the award of the Architecture and Urban Planning Committee), Prewntorium in Przegorzały (the award of the Union of Polish Architects SARP), the DBKP office building in Kraków and buildings of representative character such as the Cracovia Hotel, and the Kijów cinema (the award of the Minister of Construction), a co-author of the complex of Polish embassy facilities in New Delhi (the Building of the Year award granted by the government of India in 1978). He is also a co-author of residential estates developed in Kraków such as: Dębniki and Mistrzejowice as well as monument layouts in Pole Grunwaldu and the Death Camp in Płaszów.

He is the winner of 42 awards and honourable mentions in various architectural and urban competitions in Poland and abroad, six-time winner of the Award of the Minister of Science and Higher Education and the Ministry of National Education, two-times winner of the Award of the Minister of Spatial Planning and Environmental Protection.

In 1973 he obtained a Kraków award and in 1980 a Pan-Poland Honorary Award of the Union of Polish Architects SARP for his outstanding architectural achievements. In 1994 he received an award from the City of Kraków in the field of science and technology and in 2006 in the field of culture and art. He obtained a Commander’s Cross and an Officer's Cross of the Order of Polonia Restituta and a Medal of the National Education Committee for his creative and scientific achievements. As a Home Army soldier he was honoured with a Partisan Cross two times for his participation in the operation ‘Tempest’ in 1944. In 2000 he was honoured with a Commander’s Cross with Star of the Order of Polonia Restituta by the President of the Republic of Poland on the 50th anniversary of his scientific, teaching and artistic work.

He is the winner of the St. Albert Award for his achievements in the field of sacral architecture. He was the chief architect of several sacral facilities such as the Cathedral in Rzeszów as well as the churches: in Zakopane on Zamoyskiego Street, in Kraków on Wzgórza Krzesławickie, at the former airport in Czyżyny and at the Ruczaj-Zaborze residential estate. In 1989 and 1997 he designed papal alters at Błonie Krakowskie. He is the author and chief designer of the urban and architectural layout of the Sanctuary of Divine Mercy in Kraków – Łagiewniki, which was approved by the Pope in 1997 and consecrated by Him in 2002. In the same year the basilica complex received the ‘Building of the Year’ award granted by Polish Union of Engineers and Technicians of the Construction Industry and the Ministry of Construction. In the years 2002-2007 the John Paul II hall and the interiors of the basilica and three chapels in the Łagiewniki Sanctuary were constructed in accordance with his designs, which included stained glass windows and sculptures. He is the author of the sculpture of St. Brother Albert in the parish church at the Osiedle Dywizjonu 303 residential estate in Kraków - Czyżyny, which was created in 2004, and the author of the monument to John Paul II in Łagiewniki (2006) and to St. John the Baptist in Krzesławice (2008).

On September 15, 1999 he received a high papal distinction – the Papal Order of St. Gregory the Great  granted by Pope John Paul II in recognition of his work in the field of sacral architecture and the Polish State Award of 1st Degree granted by the President of the Council of Ministers for overall artistic and scientific achievements.

..............................................

THE DDJM ARCHITECTURAL STUDIO has been operating since 1991 having its registered office and headquarters in Kraków. The partners of the company are the architects: Marek Dunikowski, Jarosław Kutniowski and Wojciech Miecznikowski, who all graduated from the Cracow University of Technology.

The DDJM team includes approx. 30 designers, most of whom are certified and have broad experience in design and its implementation.

During 20 years of its operations DDJM developed over 50 significant projects, a lot of which received prestigious awards. In Kraków they include: Centrum Biurowe Lubicz, the GTC ‘Galileo’ office buildings (2003 SARP Award of the Year of the Union of Polish Architects), ‘Newton’ and ‘Edison’, the ‘Avatar’ building – the seat of BNP Paribas (CIJ Award), the ‘Mozarta’ residential complex (Kraków Architect of the Year 2008) and the ‘Angel Plaza’ residential building (CCE Real Estate Award). The development of its ‘Murano’ residential complex is currently finishing in Warsaw.