LIM Center

{{Infobox building

| name = LIM Center

| image = Warsaw Marriott Hotel August 2010.JPG

| status = complete

| location = Warsaw, Poland

| building_type = Hotel, offices, retail

| start_date = 1977

| completion_date = 1989

| architectural_style = International Style

| architectural = {{convert|170|m|abbr=on}}

| roof = {{convert|140|m|abbr=on}}

| floor_count = 43

| floor_area = {{convert|87602|m2|abbr=on}}

| website = {{URL|http://www.lim.com.pl/}}

}}

The LIM Center (Polish: Centrum LIM) is a skyscraper located in Warsaw, Poland. It was completed in 1989 and is {{convert|140|m|abbr=on}} tall making it Poland's 16th tallest building. The building housed the Warsaw Marriott Hotel until 2024. It is currently the seat of the Warsaw Presidential Hotel.

History

The building was built by LIM Joint Venture Sp. Ltd., a consortium of three partners: LOT (Polish Airlines), ILBAU GmbH (an Austrian construction company), and the hotel chain Marriott International. In 1998, ILBAU sold its share to SGS GmbH.{{Cite web |url=https://www.raportwarszawski.pl/artykul/763,czemu-marriott-ewakuowal-sie-z-centrum-lim-trudny-rozwod-polakow-i-amerykanow-w-tle-miliony-i-oskarzenie-o-fikcyjne-zatr |language=pl |title=Czemu Marriott ewakuował się z Centrum LIM? Trudny rozwód Polaków i Amerykanów. W tle miliony i oskarżenie o fikcyjne zatrudnienie |website=raportwarszawski.pl |author=Piotr Wróblewski |date=16 August 2024 |access-date=21 August 2024}}

The designers were Jerzy Skrzypczak, Andrzej Bielobradek, and Krzysztof Stefanski.{{cite book |last=Leśniakowska |first=Marta |author-link= |date=2005 |title=Architektura w Warszawie 1965–1989. |url= |location=Warsaw |publisher=Arkada Pracownia Historii Sztuki |page=36 |isbn=83-908950-7-2}} The architects were Szmigielski Katten Associates in association with Raglan Squire & Partners of London.{{Cite news |date=August 1977 |title=Wide spread work for Cementation |url=https://archive.org/details/FinancialTimes1977UKEnglish/Aug%2001%201977%2C%20Financial%20Times%2C%20%2327336%2C%20UK%20%28en%29/page/n5/mode/2up |access-date=16 September 2024 |work=The Financial Times |pages=6}}{{Cite news |date=May 1980 |title=43-storey slipformed Warsaw air terminal |url=https://www.scribd.com/document/431114139/43-Storey-Slipformed-Warsaw-Terminal |access-date=16 September 2024 |work=Concrete |pages=23}} The facade is a dark green color, and is adjacent to the Oxford Tower. The building has white edges (illuminated at night with bright, white light) as well as two floors that form dark horizontal stripes, one halfway up the structure and the other at the top, that serve as utility areas.

A shopping center known as Gallery LIM is on the two lower floors. It includes about 40 shops, cafes and restaurants, and the LOT ticket office. Rental office space is in the lower part of the tower (between floors 5 and 19).

Without its 30-meter antenna on the roof, the building is 140 meters tall. The building also houses a casino. The building is connected by a tunnel to Warszawa Centralna railway station.

There is a proposal for a 71-storey tower, Lilium, to be built on the site currently occupied by the lower western wing of the building.{{Cite web |url=https://eurobuildcee.com/en/news/13237-lilium-tower-is-back-in-the-game |title=Lilium Tower is back in the game? |website=eurobuildcee.com |date=14 March 2014 |access-date=10 April 2023}}

=Warsaw Presidential Hotel=

In 1989, the Warsaw Marriott Hotel was opened in the building and occupied floors 20 and above, offering 518 rooms and 95 suites. The top floor is a presidential suite. Each room has air conditioning and satellite links. Warsaw Marriott Hotel guests have at their disposal a sauna, swimming pool, conference facilities, restaurants, and two bars. Prominent guests who stayed in the hotel include U.S. Presidents George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton, Barack Obama,{{Cite web |url=https://enjoyyourstay.pl/hotel-marriott-w-warszawie-25-lat-na-hotelowej-mapie-stolicy/ |language=pl |title=Hotel Marriott w Warszawie – 25 lat na hotelowej mapie stolicy |website=enjoyyourstay.pl |date=5 April 2015 |access-date=2 August 2024}} George W. Bush and Joe Biden,{{Cite web |url=https://podroze.onet.pl/ciekawe/spelnilam-marzenie-wielu-polakow-nocowalam-na-35-pietrze-hotelu-marriott/lh59bn9 |language=pl |title=Spełniłam marzenie wielu Polaków. Nocowałam na 35. piętrze hotelu Marriott w Warszawie [RELACJA] |website=onet.pl |author=Karolina Walczowska |date=6 May 2023 |access-date=2 August 2024}} Michael Jackson, Luciano Pavarotti,{{Cite web |url=https://mrluxury.pl/2018/04/29/warszawski-marriott-pierwszy-taki-hotel-w-warszawie/ |language=pl |title=Warszawski Marriott: pierwszy taki hotel w Warszawie |website=mrluxury.pl |date=29 April 2018 |access-date=2 August 2024}} Madeleine Albright, Colin Powell, Al Gore, Helmut Kohl, King Juan Carlos I, Kamala Harris, and Aerosmith.{{Cite web |url=https://podroze.onet.pl/ciekawe/tutaj-bedzie-nocowac-taylor-swift-oto-apartament-prezydencki-relacja/kvt2r90 |language=pl |title=Tutaj będzie nocować Taylor Swift. Odwiedziliśmy apartament prezydencki w hotelu Marriott [RELACJA] |website=onet.pl |author=Karolina Walczowska |date=1 August 2024 |access-date=2 August 2024}}

The hotel operated under the Marriott brand until August 2024.{{Cite web |url=https://biznes.interia.pl/gospodarka/news-warszawski-marriott-przestaje-byc-marriottem-amerykanie-po-l,nId,7752208 |language=pl |title=Warszawski Marriott przestaje być Marriottem. Amerykanie po latach wycofują się z jego prowadzenia |website=interia.pl |author=Agnieszka Maciuła-Ziomek |access-date=7 August 2024}} The Polish company LIM Center officially announced that the new name of the hotel would be the Warsaw Presidential Hotel. The new name was inspired by the fact that many heads of state have stayed at the hotel in its history.{{Cite news |url=https://wiadomosci.wp.pl/warszawski-marriott-ma-nowa-nazwe-to-nawiazanie-do-historii-7058321477606016a |language=pl |title=Tak będzie się nazywał dotychczasowy hotel Marriott |website=wiadomosci.wp.pl |author=Maciej Zubel |access-date=9 August 2024}}

Trivia

In the top two floors of the center is a cafe LIM Panorama Club with one of the highest publicly accessible views of the entire city of Warsaw.
In 1999, the famous French climber Alain Robert climbed the Marriott Hotel without protection or permission. In the same year, the same feat was completed by Polish photographer and climber Dawid Kaszlikowski, while 10 years later, on 22 April 2009, the building was scaled by Bartholomew Opiela. On 2 June 2019 Marcin Banot climbed the Marriott Hotel.
The name LIM actually came from the first letter of the name of every member of the venture. L is for LOT, I is for ILBAU, and M is for Marriott.
Between 1994 and 1996 in the basement of the hotel was situated Maloka BBS, the first commercial ISP maintained by Stanisław Tymiński, an applicant for RP President
In April 2002, Felix Baumgartner performed the first ever base jump from the roof of the Marriott Hotel.{{Cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdq9k_ZDXVI |title=Felix Baumgartner BASE jump off the Marriott in Warsaw |website=youtube.com |access-date=10 April 2023}}

External links

[http://skyscraperpage.com/cities/?buildingID=1124 Skyscraper Page]
[http://www.cosmopolis.ch/travel/warsaw/warsaw_marriott_e015500000.htm Detailed articles in cosmopolis.ch about the Warsaw Marriott]
{{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20121019025628/http://www.emporis.com/building/centrumlim-warsaw-poland Interesting Facts about Centrum LIM]}}