Gateway to the Baltic — WXCA and WSP to design Elbląg’s biggest development in 50 years

A team including WXCA is behind one of the largest development projects on Poland's map. The joint team of WSP Polska and the WXCA studio — supported by WSP experts from Denmark — has won the competition for the functional and spatial concept for the expansion of the sea port in Elbląg. The winning vision is called 'Gateway to the Baltic' and, as local authorities point out, is the city's largest development project in 50 years.

A new terminal on 30 hectares

At the heart of the project is a new T2 port terminal, to be built on an area of around 30 hectares near ul. Żytnia, alongside the redevelopment of the terminal on ul. Radomska. The design team itself describes its concept as a 'project for tomorrow'. The terminal is envisioned as a 21st-century maritime logistics hub — a place where modern technology and efficient logistics go hand in hand with sensitivity to the urban context and to Elbląg's nature and history.

Modularity instead of decades of concrete

A key solution is modularity — a trend in modern industrial architecture that allows the port's functions to be flexibly adapted to changing market needs without costly rebuilds. It treats infrastructure as a living organism rather than a closed concrete structure built for half a century. The project is backed by EU funding: the European Commission has approved the use of around PLN 200m (nearly EUR 40m) from the Fundusze Europejskie dla Warmii i Mazur 2021–2027 programme.

For us at Method Press, Gateway to the Baltic is a reminder that architecture is also infrastructure — and projects meant to serve for decades require not just a good drawing, but also the ability to tell a city and its investors why this particular vision is worth billions and years of work.