Tuhan-Baranovskoho St. 10 - Lviv Academy of Commerce

The Academy of International Trade was located on Skarbkowska (now Lesi Ukrainky) street 39 in a building adapted on the expense of the Chamber of Commerce from 1899. As a result of the 1922 educational reform, the Academy was transformed into the High School of International Trade. It was temporarily moved to the building of the Institute of Technology on Burlarda (now Nyzhankivskoho) street 5. However, as the number of students increased steadily, there appeared a need for the construction of a separate building.

The plot was purchased at the turn of Sakramentok street leading to the convent of the Sisters of the Most Holy  Sacrament (Tuhan-Baranovskoho street), in the place of old wood stores. It was not by chance that the school administration invited Wawrzyniec Dajczak to design the project, since the architect had a considerable experience in the design of buildings for educational institutions and, moreover, sometimes worked for free or for a nominal fee. The building was constructed in 1934-1935.

The distribution of premises according to their functions is obvious on the outside: the building’s volume consists of four parts with different parameters and different design of the façades. The entrance, the vestibule, and the hall are located in the most representative volume. The staircases are accentuated, the main one to the left of the entrance and an auxiliary one close to the edge of the façade on the right, are faced with brick entirely on the façade and have vertical ribbon windows. Between them, there are classrooms and corridors on all three floors; the ground floor is partly occupied by the library; offices of the managing personnel and an assembly hall are located on the second floor.

According to the building regulations of that time, in case of a setback from the frontage line a front garden was to be arranged between the building and the street. The architect designed two projects of the fence and green space. The fact indicats his remarkable attention not only to the exterior of the building, but also to the appearance of the city.

The tradition of the financial educational institution continues: in the Soviet times, there was a Trade and Economic Institute, the Commercial Academy is located there now. The statue of Mercury on the building’s main façade, present in Wawrzyniec Dajczak’s design, was arranged there much later than the building itself.