Power House of the Bobrek Steelworks

The Power House is the former works power station of the steelworks in Bytom-Bobrek, built of brick in the Neo-Romanesque style at the beginning of the 20th century. Two connected buildings form an elongated block about 108 m long.

Two buildings, one block

The southern building dates from 1900, the northern one from 1907. The power plant was housed in the northern part, while the southern part contained an assembly hall and the accounts department, later a common room and a changing room. From the 1970s the electrical department operated here. The building was entered in the heritage register in 1984.

Architecture

Both parts are single-storey, without a cellar, of unrendered brick. The gabled roof has a steel structure with Polonceau-system trusses and lighting along the ridge. A cornice divides the main façade into two storeys: the large windows are closed with a full round arch with archivolts, and above them runs an arcade of quadruple windows. The side façades are decorated with ceramic shapes and pilaster strips. Steel tie rods protect both parts against the effects of mining damage. Inside there was fixed apparatus powered by blast-furnace gas, and the generators had flywheels in casings about 15 m in diameter.

Today

The building belongs to the company Koksownia Bytom and is being prepared for a coking museum. In the area there is also the Szombierki Combined Heat and Power Plant, another piece of Bytom's industrial heritage.

Practical information

• Address: ul. Konstytucji 61, Bytom-Bobrek.
• The building stands on the works site, and visits to the interior are not described in the sources; the main façade can be seen from ul. Konstytucji.
• Before your visit, check whether the coking museum has already opened.