Housed in an old brewery dating from 1844, the
award-winning Stary Browar complex has been dubbed an art, leisure and shopping extravaganza, and its success a sign of Poznań’s economic renaissance. Its completion also marks a move away from out-of-town developments, and a new trend for inner-city regeneration projects. Originally home to the Huggera Brewery, the building has always cast a huge influence on the city with beer production hitting 72,000 hectalitres in 1918. Even under German occupation the building continued to churn out piwo, with production only ceasing in 1944 when the basement was converted into bunkers and air-raid shelters.

Heavily damaged in the siege of Poznań the hulk of a building finally stopped brewing beer in 1980. Stary Browar carried on operating at a fraction of its capacity producing mineral water, though it was only in 1998 that it was finally awarded a new lease of life. Bought by the Fortis group, an original investment of US$66 million saw the building transformed. Opened amid much fanfare in November 2003 the shopping mall now covers an area of over 100,000m2, and draws an average of 40,000 people daily. With over 210 retail units, including the Van Graaf designer store, bookshops and Alma gourmet delicatessen, the complex has become one of the most talked about developments in the country.

The complex won the prize for the world’s best shopping centre in the ‘new centre medium’ category, as judged by award the International Council of Shopping Centres (ICSC). Summer 2007 marked the completion of phase II of the Stary Browar project - the expansion of a new wing, thereby nearly doubling SB in size.