Polish History Museum in Warsaw Wins the 2024 ULI Global Award for Excellence

The Polish History Museum in Warsaw has been recognised as the world’s finest new cultural sector investment. Designed by the Polish architectural studio WXCA, this landmark museum—serving as the central feature of a representative new cultural complex in the heart of Poland’s capital—has received the distinguished 2024 ULI Global Award for Excellence.

This is not the first significant accolade for the Polish History Museum in Warsaw, designed by the WXCA studio. A few months ago, the jury of the prestigious architectural award Prix Versailles included the museum on its “World’s Most Beautiful Museums 2024” list, which honoured seven of the most stunning newly inaugurated museum buildings globally. The jurors commended WXCA’s original architectural concept for its captivating, multilayered symbolism, as well as the impeccable craftsmanship of the structure itself, described by its creators as a “stone monolith of history”:

“The mission of this history museum is subtly etched into the outer walls of this monolith of stone. WXCA’s idea was to cover the façades with slabs of marble arranged in horizontal strips to underscore the layered structure of the stone, making it possible to add diversity to the different sections through variations in tone and texture,” stated the Prix Versailles jury in their decision. They emphasised that the reliefs that symbolically draw inspiration from motifs from architectural traditions, allow visitors to “read the museum’s mission directly from its façade”.

The architects at WXCA can now once again proudly celebrate receiving a prestigious international award. Just days ago, the Polish History Museum was named a winner in the 2024 ULI Global Awards for Excellence. First awarded in 1979 by the Urban Land Institute, this accolade is among the most esteemed in the real estate and built environment sectors.

The ULI jury evaluates not only the architectural and urban design quality of projects but also factors such as functionality and user experience, benefits to both local and broader communities, environmental sustainability features, and the ultimate economic market performance of the development. The award’s reputation is upheld by the competition’s long-standing tradition and its rigorous, multi-stage evaluation process. This includes detailed presentations to an international jury, followed by on-site visits where jury representatives meet with the designers and users of the project.

As Doug Voigt, Chair of the Jury and Partner at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM), highlighted: “Each of the winners exhibits a deep commitment to tackling the most pressing local issues and positively impacting their communities and environments. Together, they showcase a diversity of inventive strategies for transforming cities around the world, serving as replicable examples on both regional and global scales that advance ULI’s core mission.”

Sophie Henley-Price, Principal and Managing Director at STUDIOS Architecture added, “The Polish History Museum has displayed excellence in all areas, from powerful yet inclusive architecture, to reasoned sustainable strategies, regenerative placemaking and an extensive multi-generational education program. More importantly, and so relevant today, is its cultural significance and mission, one that stretches beyond Warsaw and is a powerful vector for change.”

Earlier, prior to the global official announcement of the competition results, the Polish History Museum had already won the title of Best Cultural Sector Investment in Europe, securing the 2024 ULI Europe Award for Excellence—a significant achievement in its own right.

Reflecting on this success, architect Marta Sękulska-Wrońska, Partner and CEO of WXCA, remarked:

“We are thrilled with this recognition because the Urban Land Institute competition stands out for its interdisciplinary profile and multidimensional approach to evaluating projects. It considers not only the various aspects of implementation but also the ultimate social, economic, and ecological impacts of a development. The jury appreciated the timeless and refined architecture of the Polish History Museum, as well as how its architectonic form responds to the demands of a modern cultural institution. Today, such institutions serve diverse cultural and educational roles. They not only showcase artefacts of our material heritage but—perhaps even more importantly—create spaces for active and democratic dialogue about that heritage. These kinds of spaces have been sorely lacking in Poland since 1945”.

Project Name: Polish History Museum
Project Office: WXCA
Team: Szczepan Wroński, Paweł Grodzicki, Krzysztof Budzisz, Marta Sękulska-Wrońska, Katarzyna Billik, Rafał Boguszewski, Kamil Cedzyński, Anna Dobek, Małgorzata Gilarska, Beata Głaz, Marcin Jurusik, Michał Kasprzyk, Ludwik Kaizerbrecht, Marcin Kruk, Paulina Kucharska, Michał Lipiec, Anna Majewska, Krzysztof Marciszewski, Adam Mierzwa, Mariusz Niemiec, Magdalena Nowak, Magdalena Julianna Nowak, Barbara Płonczyńska, Zuzanna Rosińska, Michał Staniszewski, Łukasz Szczepanowicz, Kajetan Szostok, Krystian Tomczyk, Paweł Wolanin, Michał Żurek, Paweł Słupski, Michał Kalinowski
Project Year: 2017
Construction Start Year: 2018
Construction Completion Year: 2023