Railway Station of the Year 2024 — how the historic station in Zakopane was restored

On 14 November 2024, during the 14th Railway Congress in Warsaw, the jury of the ‘Railway Station of the Year 2024’ competition awarded the Main Prize to the station in Zakopane. It was the seventh edition of the plebiscite organised by the Pro Kolej Foundation. The architecture of the modernised building was the work of Kahl-Gaczorek Architekci, while the interior design was by Bernatowicz Architektura, led by Aleksander Bernatowicz.

A gateway to the Tatras with over a century of history

Zakopane’s adventure with the railway began in 1899, when — thanks to the efforts of Count Władysław Zamoyski — a line to the capital of the Polish mountains was built. For the region it was a breakthrough: the railway opened Podhale to health tourists, artists and travellers. In the interwar period it was here that the legendary Luxtorpeda arrived, covering the route from Kraków in about two hours. Today the station remains a transport hub at the gateway to the Tatras, and an efficient rail connection is a real alternative to the congested ‘zakopianka’ road.

Renovation: a heritage building in the service of tourism

The modernisation of the station’s interiors was part of a larger undertaking — the construction of the city’s new transport hub, including a bus station, a multi-storey car park and the redevelopment of the square; the investor is the Municipality of Zakopane. According to the studio, the interior design was created in 2020, construction was carried out from 2021, and the renovated station began serving passengers in 2023. Work on the station itself also covered the track infrastructure: a new track layout and platforms, lowering the track bed by about a metre (which makes boarding easier for people with reduced mobility) and extending the tracks to handle longer trains. It was precisely this combination of accessibility and respect for the heritage building that the jury highlighted.

Bernatowicz Architektura interiors: bottle green and brass

The role of Bernatowicz Architektura was to restore the interiors’ former character while introducing contemporary design. The work was preceded by collaboration with a heritage conservator and research that revealed the building’s original fabric — the original colours of the façade, windows and doors. The original layout of the walls in the entrance area was preserved, and historic elements discovered in the stairwells were conserved. The key gesture in the colour scheme became bottle green, read from the original colour of the heritage window joinery. It was complemented by warm white, golden accents of brass and decorative mouldings, and wooden beams. The interiors were completed with furniture by Polish manufacturers (including Fameg) and an artistic installation in the entrance area. As Aleksander Bernatowicz notes, the aim was to recreate the atmosphere of a building from more than a hundred years ago and to delight passengers arriving by rail in Zakopane. It is worth separating the responsibilities: the massing and architecture of the building are the domain of Kahl-Gaczorek Architekci, while the interior arrangement — kept in the spirit of art déco and Podhale motifs — is by Bernatowicz Architektura. The designers worked here on a limited budget and had to creatively harmonise their concept with elements delivered earlier by other teams (gres floor tiles, glass balustrades with a highlander print, installations).

What ‘Railway Station of the Year’ means

The ‘Railway Station of the Year’ competition, organised by the Pro Kolej Foundation, is a plebiscite assessing the quality of Polish railway stations — their functionality, accessibility, aesthetics and role for the local community. The 2024 edition drew 128 entries from all 16 voivodeships; 17 stations qualified for audits, and the final seven were Dąbrowa Górnicza, Goleniów, Konin, Siedlce, Wadowice, Włocławek and Zakopane. The Main Prize for Zakopane means victory in the entire competition; the separate Public Prize went to the station in Dąbrowa Górnicza.

The award confirms that the renovation of a historic public building can combine conservation rigour with real comfort for travellers. For Zakopane it means not just a renovated building, but a showcase for the town — the first interior that a tourist arriving by rail in the Tatras sees.