Attic adaptations and superstructures in tenement houses in city centres enjoy considerable interest, in spite of a rich offer of apartments available on the primary market. It can be assumed that a historic neighbourhood and a possibility to live in an old building is sometimes an attractive choice. Tenement houses built in the 1930s are particularly sought after by investors. Most frequently the houses are located in so called “better” city districts, have spacious and comfortable staircases (often equipped with lifts) and, as a rule, are in a better technical state than older houses. R egretfully, superstructures of modernist tenement houses completed so far, too rarely have been examples of a successful architectural intervention. The paper presents several selected cases from Cracow, pointing to problems related to the protection of residential architecture of the period.

Attic adaptations and superstructures in tenement houses in city centres enjoy considerable interest, in spite of a rich offer of apartments available on the primary market. It can be assumed that a historic neighbourhood and a possibility to live in an old building is sometimes an attractive choice. Tenement houses built in the 1930s are particularly sought after by investors. Most frequently the houses are located in so called “better” city districts, have spacious and comfortable staircases (often equipped with lifts) and, as a rule, are in a better technical state than older houses. R egretfully, superstructures of modernist tenement houses completed so far, too rarely have been examples of a successful architectural intervention. The paper presents several selected cases from Cracow, pointing to problems related to the protection of residential architecture of the period.