A detail at Węzeł Cieplny where mint-green railing tubes rise from a tread plate base beside plywood shelving stocked with rimmed plates, checked linen, a floral platter and amber glasses. A red portable table lamp punctuates the timber, while tread plate wraps the adjacent steps.

Węzeł Cieplny: A Former Heating Substation Finds New Warmth as a Restaurant in Gdańsk

Words by Yatzer

Gdańsk, Poland

Commissioned to design Węzeł Cieplny, a new restaurant housed in a former district-heating substation in Gdańsk, interior architect Zosia Niesiobędzka, founder of local studio CON S, might easily have erased the property’s industrial past in favour of the polished sophistication of contemporary design. Instead, she embraced its infrastructural character while weaving in vintage references to the homes surrounding it, introducing warmth and playfulness. The result is a characterful space that deftly negotiates between industrial and domestic nostalgia, feeling at once familiar and idiosyncratic.

Sunlight filters through lace curtains onto loaves ranged across plywood shelves at Węzeł Cieplny, casting lace shadows over the timber and across the glossy white 3D tiles alongside. The warm grain and dimpled ceramic surfaces meet in a study of texture and pattern.

Photography by Mood Authors.

The bar at Węzeł Cieplny, where stained plywood panels meet glossy white 3D tiles with dimpled square reliefs. Green porthole doors lead to the kitchen, a green enamel task lamp arcs overhead on a chrome stem, and the green tiled communal table enters at the lower right.

Photography by Mood Authors.

Beside the glazed entrance at Węzeł Cieplny, a stained plywood host stand with a smoked polycarbonate side panel carries a sculptural table lamp and a candle. Lace curtains frame the window, while preserving jars, tumblers and stacked plates fill the plywood shelving alongside the green tiled table.

Photography by Mood Authors.

Looking across Węzeł Cieplny towards the bar, where a stained plywood counter meets glossy white 3D tiles and green porthole doors. Exposed ductwork runs overhead, mint-green railings cross the foreground, and lace fabric drapes over a tubular pendant above the communal table.

Photography by Mood Authors.

The restaurant sits beside the Falowiec, the vast, undulating housing blocks built in Gdańsk’s Przymorze district during the 1970s, the longest of which stretches some 860 metres and houses several thousand residents. Initially promoted as emblems of modern living, they were later burdened by the stigma attached to large socialist-era estates before being reconsidered as icons of the city. Modernist to the point of brutalism, these buildings carry the weight of an austere era; yet for generations of Gdańsk residents, they also evoke grandmothers’ kitchens and Sunday dinners.

Niesiobędzka drew on precisely this doubleness, encapsulated in the use of reclaimed tread plate, a common type of anti-slip metal sheeting whose raised checker pattern reads from a distance like woven cloth: an industrial surface that nonetheless suggests something decorative and handmade. Tread plate now runs across floors and steps, unifying the venue's three interconnected levels, with exposed brickwork, visible air ducts and galvanised-metal details reinforcing the building's utilitarian register. Against this rugged backdrop, Niesiobędzka has introduced stained plywood that imbues the space with warmth, appearing in the bar counter, wall panelling and shelving, its honeyed grain lending the scheme a vintage sensibility.

Mint-green railings cross the tread plate flooring at Węzeł Cieplny, marking the shallow change of level between areas. Behind, plywood shelving set against exposed brick holds sparkling wine, coupes and cookbooks, while the green tiled communal table and red tubular stools occupy the right foreground.

Photography by Mood Authors.

A detail at Węzeł Cieplny where mint-green railing tubes rise from a tread plate base beside plywood shelving stocked with rimmed plates, checked linen, a floral platter and amber glasses. A red portable table lamp punctuates the timber, while tread plate wraps the adjacent steps.

Photography by Mood Authors.

A pale blue laminate-topped table at Węzeł Cieplny set with checked napkins and amber tumblers, seen from above. Bentwood and chrome chairs sit alongside a brown leather and blue denim banquette, while a textured glass wall lamp on a cantilevered bracket casts light from the exposed brick wall.

Photography by Mood Authors.

Seen from above at Węzeł Cieplny, a pale blue glass-topped table on a polished aluminium base pairs with bentwood and chrome chairs. Across the smooth screed floor, the plywood shelving unit holds glassware, candles and an ice bucket, its lower shelves backed by tread plate.

Photography by Mood Authors.

A lower level dining area at Węzeł Cieplny, where a run of pale blue tables lines a banquette upholstered in blue denim and brown leather against exposed brick. Cantilevered wall lamps arc overhead, a woven ochre tapestry hangs alongside, and lace curtains soften the daylight from the clerestory window.

Photography by Mood Authors.

Most notably, Niesiobędzka combined stained plywood and smoked polycarbonate to craft a large shelving unit that doubles as a balustrade, stocked with glassware, preserves and cookbooks. The shelving forms part of a series of bespoke furnishings straddling industrial and decorative languages, including cantilevered wall lamps fashioned from galvanised steel pipework and fitted with textured polycarbonate diffusers, and mint-green railings that wind sinuously through the space.

  • A traditional woven tapestry in ochre, rust and cream hangs against the exposed brickwork at Węzeł Cieplny, its geometric motifs echoing the checkered tread plate used throughout. Below, a blue denim bolster tops a leather banquette, and a cantilevered lamp with a textured glass shade curves overhead.

    Photography by Mood Authors.

  • Backlit by a window, the plywood shelving unit at Węzeł Cieplny doubles as a room divider, its open grid framing crystal glassware, pickled vegetables in jars, cookbooks and candles. Tread plate flooring glints through the gaps, tying the display back to the building's industrial fabric.

    Photography by Mood Authors.

A wall-mounted stainless steel cabinet at Węzeł Cieplny stands against raw brickwork, topped with amber glassware, a Polish cookbook and a mottled green ceramic vase. A textured glass sconce on a red flex hangs above, while tread plate flooring m

Photography by Mood Authors.

The full height of the stained plywood and polycarbonate shelving unit at Węzeł Cieplny, acting as both display and balustrade. Preserving jars, crystal coupes, an open cookbook and a silver ice bucket are arranged across its shelves, with tread plate cladding visible behind.

Photography by Mood Authors.

A close view of the stained plywood shelving at Węzeł Cieplny, its slim transparent rails holding amber glass mugs, stacked plates, preserving jars and cookbooks. Warm afternoon light pools across the timber, while the green ceramic tiles of the communal table intrude at the lower edge.

Photography by Mood Authors.

The entrance space at Węzeł Cieplny centres on a communal table clad in glossy green ceramic tile, ringed by red tubular stools with dark timber seats. Lace drapes over a slim tubular pendant near exposed ductwork, while plywood shelving against brick displays crystal, a soup tureen and amber glassware.

Photography by Mood Authors.

A low-level detail at Węzeł Cieplny, framed beneath a table top: red tubular stool legs stand on tread plate flooring, whose raised checker pattern catches the light, while the deep green tiled base of the communal table glows in a shaft of afternoon sun.

Photography by Mood Authors.

Seen through a circular opening cut into a lace curtain, loaves rest on plywood shelves at Węzeł Cieplny. The floral lace frames the view like a porthole, its domestic softness set against the warm timber and the crusted surfaces of the bread beyond.

Photography by Mood Authors.

A close study at Węzeł Cieplny of the host stand's smoked polycarbonate panel, its faceted edge catching the light against stained plywood. A softly glowing table lamp with a ribbed shade sits above, its amber light warming the composition.

Photography by Mood Authors.

Banquettes upholstered in brown leather and blue denim soften the rugged palette of metal, brick and wood, as do lace curtains filtering the daylight. Lace also appears whimsically draped over a minimalist tubular pendant above a communal table in the entrance space, further enhancing the scheme’s playful sense of vintage domesticity. Clad in glossy green ceramic tiles and paired with red tubular stools, the custom-made communal table is one of a series of exuberant flashes of colour, while retro-futuristic, glossy white 3D tiles around the adjacent bar counter play into the scheme's epoch-mixing nostalgia.

An eclectic assortment of furnishings similarly draws together objects from different periods. Edlef Bandixen's Model 2100 Chairs from the 1960s are paired with contemporary laminated tables, while vernacular wooden chairs gather around a sculptural marble table beneath a 1970s Tulip Lamp by Gebrüder Cosack. Traditional wall tapestries stretch the range further still, making the interior feel idiosyncratically collected over time rather than styled.

Niesiobędzka's balancing act reaches its most exuberant conclusion in the bathroom. A three-tone plaid of red, rust and cream tiles wraps the space in the pattern of a traditional blanket, with a deep burgundy sink, vintage glass sconces and gleaming chrome fittings completing the scene. Domestic nostalgia, industrial precision and a dash of theatricality converge in one small room, a fitting finale for a restaurant that turns a former heating substation into a place of warmth in every sense.

A round table with a mottled dark marble top and pedestal base sits against exposed brick at Węzeł Cieplny, laid with red gingham napkins and rimmed plates. Vernacular pine chairs surround it, and a flared white glass pendant hangs above a panel of stained plywood.

Photography by Mood Authors.

A place setting at Węzeł Cieplny on a mottled dark marble table: a red-rimmed plate holds a folded red gingham napkin and cutlery, with vernacular pine chairs drawn close. Directional light picks out the stone's veining against the surrounding shadow.

Photography by Mood Authors.

Glossy white 3D tiles with dimpled square reliefs form the backdrop at Węzeł Cieplny to pale blue glass-topped tables on polished aluminium bases. Bentwood chairs with chrome frames sit alongside, and a red portable lamp supplies the single note of colour.

Photography by Mood Authors.

The bathroom at Węzeł Cieplny is wrapped floor to ceiling in a three-tone plaid of red, rust and cream tiles that recalls a traditional woven blanket. A deep burgundy sink with chrome fittings sits below a slim mirror, flanked by textured glass sconces and tapered candles on a tiled ledge.

Photography by Mood Authors.