Attraction in Poznań

Stary Browar

An old Huggerowie brewery turned into an award winning shopping and art centre that blends 19th century brick with contemporary architecture. It combines boutiques with a sculpture garden and rotating exhibitions.

Reviewed and updated July 2026

Stary Browar, the Old Brewery, is a shopping and art centre built into a 19th-century brewery just south of the Old Town, at 42 Polwiejska street. It opened in November 2003 and became known for mixing commerce with contemporary art under a stated fifty-fifty idea, so alongside the shops you find galleries, installations and a sculpture courtyard.

Why visit Stary Browar

Most people come to shop, but the building is the reason to look in even if you do not. It threads modern architecture through the old brewery, keeps art on show throughout, and stays open and free to walk around. It is also a useful stop in poor weather, with cafes, restaurants and a cinema under one roof.

Shopping and art inside

The complex keeps the old red brick and ironwork and runs new steel and glass through it. There are boutiques, cafes and restaurants, rotating art exhibitions, and a landscaped courtyard set with sculpture. A design hotel, Blow Up Hall 5050, occupies part of the building. Two phases make up the site, the first from 2003 and a larger extension added in 2007, linked across a passage.

From brewery to art centre

The centre was the project of the collector Grazyna Kulczyk, built on the site of the former Huggers brewery and driven by her fifty-fifty principle, half business and half art. It won the International Council of Shopping Centres award for the best shopping centre in the world in its size category, presented in 2005, which put the building on the map beyond Poland.

How long to allow

Half an hour is enough to walk through and see the courtyard and the architecture. Add more if you plan to shop, eat or catch an exhibition. It fits easily into a walk between the Old Market Square and the streets to the south.

Finding it in central Poznan

Stary Browar is a short walk south of the Old Market Square, at the bottom of the Polwiejska shopping street. See the Poznan guide for getting into the centre.

What is nearby

It sits within easy reach of the historic core:

The Old Market Square and the town hall goats, a few minutes north up Polwiejska.
The Imperial Castle, west of the Old Town.

Good to know

Entry to the centre and the art spaces is free to walk around. Shops, restaurants and the cinema keep their own hours, so check the official channels.

Stary Browar questions

Is Stary Browar just a shopping mall?

No. It is a shopping centre, but it was built around a fifty-fifty mix of commerce and art, so it also holds galleries, installations and a sculpture courtyard, all set inside a converted brewery.

Is it free to enter?

Yes. Walking through the centre and its art spaces is free. You only pay in the shops, restaurants and cinema.

Frequently asked questions

No. It is a shopping centre, but it was built around a stated fifty-fifty mix of commerce and art, so it also holds galleries, installations and a sculpture courtyard, all set inside a converted 19th-century brewery.

Yes. Walking through the centre and its art spaces is free. You only pay in the shops, restaurants and cinema, which keep their own hours.

Half an hour is enough to walk through and see the courtyard and the architecture, more if you plan to shop, eat or catch an exhibition. It fits easily into a walk south from the Old Market Square.

It is a short walk south of the Old Market Square, at the bottom of the Polwiejska shopping street at number 42, a few minutes from the town hall goats.