The British Embassy in Warsaw

Early Days

Before the establishment of the Polish Republic and its recognition by the British Government in 1919, there was no permanent British Embassy with its own building. Envoys made do as best as they could in rented or borrowed accommodation, sometimes put at their disposal by the Polish State.

In 1919 the British Legation was established in Branicki Palace at No. 18 Nowy Swiat, on the corner of Smolna Street, near Aleje Jerozolimskie. This imposing building, rented from Count Branicki, dated from about 1830. It served both as the Chancery and as the Ambassador’s Residence until the Second World War. Following the German invasion of Poland on 1 September 1939 and the bombing of Warsaw, the Embassy was evacuated on 5 September, first to Lukow, 60 miles from Warsaw, and then to Bucharest, following the Polish Government. From there it moved to Angers in France, where the British Ambassador was accredited to the government of General Sikorski until the evacuation of the Poles to Britain.

Following the end of the War, the Embassy did not re-occupy Branicki’s Palace, but set up offices in the Hotel Polonia, Aleje Jerozolimiskie 39 (one of the few undamaged buildings in Central Warsaw).

The Aleje Roz Embassy

The building selected for a permanent Embassy was the 19th century Palace at No. 1 Aleje Roz [the romantically named ‘alleys of the roses’], known as the Eliza Wielopolska Residence, which was leased in 1945. Aleje Roz was a new street laid out in 1877 on the side of former rose gardens, at right angles with Aleje Ujazdowskie (Warsaw’s main north-south street and part of the ‘Royal Way’ leading from the Royal Castle to the summer palace at Wilanow).

However, with the changing nature of diplomatic work, the Aleje Roz buildings were considered insecure, inadequate for FCO needs, unsuitable for the purposes for which they were used and in a dilapidated condition. Efforts to find a new Embassy building started in the 1960s and 70s.

The Ambassador’s Residence was situated at Narbutta 10, a surburban house 10 minutes drive from the Al Roz Embassy. It could take a maximum of 50 people for a reception and larger parties, such as the King’s Birthday Party, were held in the Ballroom of the Embassy. A new Residence for the Ambassador was built on Bagatela Street in the 1960s (see more information below).

In 1972 the Embassy acquired a 99-year ground lease of land on which to erect a Crown Building complex, on the corner of Szwolezerow and Mysliwiecka streets, not far from the city centre, situated in attractive parkland surroundings and in the “diplomatic area” of town.

However in 1982, it was decided that the building of a new Embassy on this site would be too expensive and a major refurbishment of the existing Al Roz offices was undertaken in the mid-1980s. Consular and Visa staff meanwhile moved into a separate house at Wawelska 14, before moving in 1993 to new modern offices in the Warsaw Corporate Centre opposite the Marriott Hotel.

The New British Embassy Building at Kawalerii Street

On 4 April 2008 work began on the construction of a new British Embassy building situated on Kawalerii Street in an area of Warsaw designed solely for Embassies.  A formal ground breaking ceremony was held in the presence of representatives of the Polish Government and the Warsaw diplomatic community, including Deputy Foreign Minister Grazyna Bernatowicz and the Mayor of Warsaw, Mrs Hanna Gronkiewicz-Waltz.  

Designed by Tony Fretton Architects with the international consultancy and construction group Mace as the design and build contractor, the 4,300m2 building has a simple form with a glass façade, delineated with vertical mullions. The building is very energy efficient with a double façade that provides substantial thermal insulation in winter and relieves heat in the summer. The project is scheduled to reach completion in the summer of 2009.