Matylda Loft

“This project is particularly close to my heart, as it was created for a client for whom we designed a house in 2015 – the award-winning Lesser Polish Eaves Cottage. I believe that the greatest reward, distinction, and endorsement an architect can receive is a satisfied client who returns years later with a new design challenge.” ~  Bogusław Barnaś

“They say you should never go back to an ex, but with BXB Studio, it’s a completely different story. After an outstanding collaboration on the Lesser Polish Eaves Cottage project, we confidently joined forces with BXB Studio once again—this time to revitalize the former “MATYLDA” lignite coal mine sorting facility in Nowe Miasteczko. If it worked so well the first time, why look for happiness anywhere else?” 
~ Sławomir, Investor, Owner of the Lesser Polish Eaves Cottage. 

The functional layout of the Matylda Loft comprises four levels with a total area of 176 square metres. The ground floor opens onto an adjacent terrace and accommodates the entrance zone, a toilet, a living room, a kitchen, and a dining area. The mezzanine level contains two study rooms. The upper two levels include four bedrooms and two bathrooms. One of the bedrooms has access to an external timber walkway, whose form, materiality, and structural logic directly reference the site’s historic industrial and technological elements.

History of the “Matylda” lignite coal mine sorting facility in Nowe Miasteczko

The Matylda lignite coal mine (German: Mathilde) is situated on the outskirts of the picturesque medieval town of Nowe Miasteczko, whose origins date back to the 13th century.

The town is located in the Lubusz Voivodeship, within the Nowa Sól County, on the banks of the Biała Woda River, approximately 35 kilometres from Zielona Góra.

Historically, Nowe Miasteczko occupied a strategic position at the intersection of important trade routes, including the historic route connecting Wrocław with Krosno Odrzańskie. During the medieval and Renaissance periods, the town flourished as a centre of commerce and craftsmanship, while its defensive walls provided security and stability for its inhabitants. Among the town’s most distinguished architectural landmarks were the Church of St. Conrad, the Parish Church of St. Mary Magdalene, and the historic Town Hall, all of which contributed to the cultural and urban identity of the settlement.

Up to the 19th century, the town changed ownership multiple times and endured both flooding and the passage of Napoleonic troops. Following 1815, it entered a renewed phase of development, marked by the establishment of a bank and the commissioning of a railway line. It was in this context that, at the beginning of the 20th century, the lignite coal mine “Matylda” was established on the north-eastern outskirts of the town, in the area of the so-called Dalkowskie Hills.

As noted by Rafał Niedźwiecki in his study (Nowe Miasteczko dawniej i dziś, ed. Jacek Zawiślak; “Kopalnia Węgla Brunatnego Matylda”, Nowe Miasteczko 2020):

“ The ‘Matylda’ lignite coal mine (consolidated Braunkohlengrube ‘Mathilde’) was established at the beginning of the 20th century and for a short period bore the name ‘Nowe Miasteczko XIII’ (Braunkohlengrube ‘Neustädtel XIII’). It was owned by the Steam Brickworks Company in Nowe Miasteczko, which was the main consumer of the extracted coal. ”

The plant operated between 1906 and 1922, with lignite extracted using open-pit mining methods. The exploitation of the deposit was carried out with the assistance of a cable-operated lifting crane known as “Goliath”, designed and manufactured by the A. Bleichert company of Leipzig.

Teams of miners extracted the coal manually and loaded it into transport boxes. Once filled, the boxes were lifted by the crane trolley and transported to the edge of the excavation, where a dumping station was located alongside waiting wagons of a narrow-gauge railway system. The loaded wagons were then coupled to a steam locomotive and shunted towards the sorting plant building, where the raw material was further processed.

The Matylda lignite coal mine ceased operations at the turn of 1921 and 1922 as a result of a sudden and uncontrolled inflow of water into the open-pit excavation. Employment at the facility ranged from 30 workers in 1907 to 101 employees in 1910. Peak production was recorded in 1910, reaching 38,361 tonnes.

In the following years, after the flooding of the excavation, a picturesque water reservoir was formed, which continues to serve recreational functions to this day.

It is here, on the edge of the lake, adjacent to a scenic park and bathing area, that one can still observe the tall, slender silhouette of the surviving sorting plant building — a remaining fragment of the former Matylda mine complex.

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