Food-Oriented Revitalisation of Large-Panel Housing Estates in Poland

This study investigates food-oriented revitalisation (FOR) of Poland’s large-panel housing estates, focusing on the widely used OWT-67 prefabricated system, and proposes an architectural framework for integrating food production into residential retrofit. The research combines (i) a critical review of scholarship on coupling housing and productive functions with (ii) a design-led case study that evaluates the potential of flat rooftops for cultivation, developed for an OWT-67 building in the Kolorowa estate (Ursus, Warsaw), and complemented by an analysis of available financing pathways. The case study translates structural and operational constraints into a buildable rooftop farming scheme based on lightweight cultivation devices arranged around a central circulation deck. The financing review shows that renovation support in Poland is dispersed and predominantly credit-based, suggesting that rooftop food programmes are most feasible when packaged with eligible measures such as energy upgrades, roof refurbishment, climate-adaptation actions and renewable-energy installations. Overall, the proposed rooftop production would meet approximately 8% of the annual fruit-and-vegetable demand in the 45-resident scenario and about 4% in the 100-resident scenario. Accordingly, the OWT-67 roof is best understood as a source of seasonal fresh produce and a socio-educational infrastructure that supplements—rather than replaces—conventional food supply systems.